


Empty Man

by lyca



Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Character Death, Crack Relationships, F/M, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mild Gore, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-08-25 23:52:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16670785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyca/pseuds/lyca
Summary: A translation and revision of a story I wrote four years ago in Italian.Set a year after the Ragnarok Tournament (Chrono Stone). Some of the Second Stage Children never took the vaccine that would allow them to lose their powers and live a normal life. Saryuu Evan is back, and is plotting a dark and complex revenge to honour a ghost of his past and prove once and for all his superiority to those who dare challenge or betray him last time... and his revenge starts with Zanark.A man without his memories, his strengths and his beliefs is empty and vulnerable. The world he once desired is one step closer...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, lyca here! Just a few words before I begin: I wrote Empty Man four years ago, in Italian, and it's been an important part of my life ever since. I have decided to try and translate into English so I could share it would more people and also challenge myself. English is my second language, so I hope I don't make too many mistakes!  
> Small warning: I have A LOT of headcanons for the Chrono Stone Series and you will be seeing some of them here.  
> 

**P** _rologue__

_(are you sure you want to_

_delete selected data?)_

 

 

“ _Traitor._ ”

It was the third time he repeated that same word in the short span of a minute. He used a firm, cold-sounding tone. Just one, sharp sound. Ready to strike.

“ _Traitor.”_

The boy with the goggles took a step forward, without averting his gaze. Only once he reached the senseless body of his victims did his eyes shift to the ground. Full of anger, it almost seemed as though his eyes were dancing.

“ _Traitor._ ”

He bent down slowly, lifting the other’s chin with his two fingers and bringing it closer to his face so he could study him. He was neither scary nor menacing when he was asleep. A small scratch was etched on his left cheek and a trickle of blood raced down, just like a tear. Just like that, it was easy to feel sorry for a once renowned wanted criminal such as Zanark Avalonic. But that wasn’t enough, no. Not for Saryuu.

“ _What now, then?_ ”

Slowly and carefully, as if he didn’t want to wake him, he started undoing his braids, letting his hair down. His hairstyle was just as complex as he was, but was what made him stand out the most. Without it, he had lost his trademark. This made Saru grin. Now all that was left was to get rid of his clothes.

“ _Don’t look, Meia. You mustn’t have eyes for such a traitor.”_

He hadn’t forgotten that he had company, just a few feet behind him. She had quietly been observing without much interest, as if she were nothing but a girl waiting for the bus to arrive, checking from time to time to see if she could spot it in the distance, playing with her bracelet as she waited. She left the job all to Saru, the boy who wanted victory and revenge, unlike that useless good-for-nothing Gillis, who had given up everything for a concept of life she failed to grasp: normality. If that was the lifestyle he had chosen, he would have had to live it without her. She was special. Saru was special. That’s why contributing to his vengeance was fundamental.

“ _All done here._ ”

The girl turned to her companion. They both knew it still wasn’t over. The main event had yet to commence.

“ _Give me a hand, will you, Meia?”_

The two held out their arm towards Zanark’s senseless naked body, ready for their mission to finally start. The boy kept repeating his chant; _traitor, traitor, traitor_. But she hesitated, even if only for a second.

“ _Saru, are you sure you want to… erase it all?_ ”

Just like eliminating an old useless file on the computer, the window that always popped up asking you if you were really ready to discard it. What a funny metaphor. Why wouldn’t he be? He didn’t even need two options.

“ _Yes_.”

They resumed their process, in silence. Once they had finished, they began to dismantle Zanark’s vehicle, piece by piece, then gathered his clothes, and finally they were ready to return to their HQ. As if nothing had ever happened. As if they hadn’t just committed a theft. After all, no one else knew that Zanark Avalonic had nothing left. Nothing at all. Only his shell.

 


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, a group of ravens is called "a murder of ravens". Weird, huh?

**C** _hapter one__

_(The boy with the_

_empty eyes)_

 

 

“Excuse me, but what do you mean with ‘no news of him’?”

Gamma always did his best at keeping his composure, at least when talking to his superiors in El Dorado. Although the world seemed to be finally at peace and he was only at his workplace a few times a weak or in case of great emergencies, he always tried to look like a top student who the chairman could always rely on. But that time was somewhat different, for it was Zanark that had been sent on a mission. Although he had never properly worked for El Dorado, except for that one time with the Raimon incident, but he seemed to be the perfect choice for the situation they had encountered: Saru was back… and with no good intentions.

A year had past since Ragnarok. After the tournament, the government had ensured that all Second Stage Children took the vaccine that would have brought their life back to normal, with no reduce lifespan or special powers. But somehow, a small yet powerful group lead by none other than Saru himself had escaped and after one year of peace and calm was slowly starting to strike back, nothing that El Dorado couldn’t counterattack. It was necessary to find their leader and stop them once and for all before they became a problem once more. The perfect man for the job would have had to be someone who had direct contact with said leader and because, both Asurei and Fei were working in Europe, that man had to be Zanark Avalonic.

“He should’ve been in contact with us every day at 5 PM.” Chairman Toudou sighed “And as you know, he did just that, at least for the first three days. But four more days have past since then and we have received no news, also his vehicle has completely vanished from our radars…”

The boy with the white hair tilted his head slightly, trying not to let those words worry him. The truth was, since the day they met, maybe as a side effect due to that strange Mixi-Max, he had never been able to forget that dangerous criminal, even when he pestered him on an almost daily basis. They both slowly started developing feelings for each other and the more these feeling grew, the more they wanted to be together, until Zanark eventually ended up moving in with Gamma. One thing happened after another, spontaneously, with Zanark nothing was forced. He was different from any other guy he had ever tried dating, with no doubt the most unpredictable person he had ever met. But no matter how unpredictable he was, his disappearance was making Gamma worry a lot. He had a bad feeling about it.

“We keep trying, but we can’t seem to get hold of him.” The chairman continued “We are starting to think that he fell into one of Saru’s traps…”

“Even if that were the case,” Gamma interrupted, excusing himself with a bow “Zanark isn’t the type who wouldn’t rebel, I mean, he did escape from MUGEN prison after all…”

“If I may say so, Gamma, I know our enemies more than you do and I’m familiar with what they are capable of. Anyway, we’ve finally managed to find the last verified trace of his motorcycle. Zanark is your… boyfriend, am I correct?” He smiled slightly “We need someone to find him or any clues and keep us updated. I believe this time you are our man.”

Gamma’s face lightened up. The idea of a new mission that only he could carry out was tempting and exciting. He slowly forgot about all the tension and smirked, flicking his hair with is hand.

“Smart. Oh, that troublemaker… Honestly, what would he be without me?”

 

 

He looked around, in search for clues. The place where he had just teleported himself to was a vast, desert-like plain, with the occasional wind blowing sand and dust in his eyes. Even worse, there seemed to be a swamp not to far away, and the smell that came from it was everything but pleasant. Gamma put his hand to his nose; smelly, dirty, and far away. Zanark couldn’t have chosen a worse place to disappear in.

“Can you hear me? Stop playing hide-and-seek, I don’t want anymore dirt on my shoes!”

Shouting was useless, he knew that. Only a distant muffled echo replied. He looked around once more, hoping to see traces of his boyfriend’s motorcycle. It had to be somewhere, there wasn’t anywhere he could hide it in such a place. But he couldn’t see it anywhere; strange, he thought, Zanark was rarely seen without it…

“Zanark! Where on earth are you?!”

He couldn’t have gone far, or El Dorado would have somehow notice. He kept pacing backwards and forwards. He was starting to worry again, it was all so useless and mysterious… until he noticed, not too far away, a small murder of ravens gathered around what seemed to be a strange mound. Hope started to fill his heart in small doses; a clue, possibly? Ravens were often considered to be a sign of bad luck, especially for someone as superstitious as Gamma, but it was the only trace he could follow. As he got closer, he started to notice more details: the shape of the mound was not so mound-shaped after all, and then he noticed a hand, untouched by the menacing birds. A human body. Gamma’s pacing broke into a jog, then a run.

“Out of my way!”

He struggled to shoo the birds away, but he finally managed to get close enough to the body to be able to identify it. He sighed in relief: it was him after all. Underneath a pile of dirt, naked, scratched and with a few black feathers here and there, Zanark Avalonic was breathing slowly, in what appeared to be a very deep sleep.

“This has got to be the worst place in the entire world for a nap!” Gamma shook his head “Come on now big guy, rise and shine.”

Zanark had always been a heavy sleeper. His boyfriend was instead an early bird, so he was used to having to wake the other up with the most unthinkable methods. He shook him, tickled him, blew on his face, but nothing seemed to work this time. He was slowly running out of patience.

“Zanark! Snap out of it!”

He slapped on the cheek. He didn’t think that out of everything that was what was going to work, but it seemed to do the trick. Maybe it was because of the deep scratch on his left cheek; slapping it must have had triggered the pain. At last, Zanark’s eyelids started to move, but didn’t seem to want to completely open. The strong sunlight seemed to be bothering them.

“Took you long enough!”

It was Gamma’s annoyed voice that seemed to convince him to finally awaken completely. But when they locked eyes, Zanark jump and shrieked with a raspy voice, looking both surprised and terrified. He would usually mutter a few insults and try to go back to sleep when woken up abruptly, but maybe he had a nightmare or some other strange dream and was still a little confused. He had been sleeping in the middle of nowhere, after all. Gamma shook his head once more.

“So, what were you doing here? Did you find Saru? El Dorado was counting on you! I knew it, they should have sent me instead, you can be so unreliable at times!”

He was hoping he would get a reaction out of that, something that would make his worries disappear. A kiss that would shut him up, or one of the usual “I knew you’d say that. But nothing happened. Zanark just stared at him, without moving. That’s when Gamma noticed: there was something wrong with his eyes. He had never known how to explain it, but one of the reasons he had fallen in love with Zanark was because of his red, shining eyes. It was as if they beamed with light, reflecting his passion and character. A light that always shined… but not anymore. His eyes had somehow darkened. They looked empty.

“Zanark…?”

It was clear that something was wrong, though he did not want to admit it. He had no proof yet, just a hunch. A hunch was nothing he could rely on.

“Look at you, you’re so dirty! Come on, allow me.”

He reached out towards Zanark’s messy hair, trying to take out the feathers. But that startled the boy even more. Swiftly, he turned towards Gamma’s hand and bit it.

“Ouch! What the-”

Gamma screamed out of pain, holding his wounded hand to his mouth. Zanark also screamed, looking even more terrified than before.

“Enough is enough, Zanark! What has gotten into you?!”

Zanark jumped once more. He curled up and looked down, like a frightened animal who didn’t know whether to attack, flee, or observe. He chose the latter. In silence, he kept looking at Gamma with his dark, empty eyes. The white haired boy didn’t dare to speak again. He was now certain: something bad had happened to Zanark. But how? And what, exactly? His boyfriend couldn’t answer him. Maybe he had been relying on him too much. But was is Gamma’s fault if the thought of big, strong Zanark Avalonic suddenly transforming into some sort of timid little creature in a giant’s body had never crossed his mind?

“El Dorado HQ to agent Gamma, over. Do you copy?”

He was so focused on those empty eyes that he didn’t even hear the voice of the chairman coming from his transmitter. All sounds had been canceled by the pressure of that empty gaze.


	3. Chapter Two

**C** _hapter two__

_(Tabula rasa)_

 

The main problem was that Zanark kept screaming every time he saw something: the sky, the ground, the raven, even Gamma. He seemed be find him the most curious out of everything and even tried standing up like him, only too fall straight to the ground and scream again.

Gamma didn’t know what do or say. He wanted to at least help him stand up, but didn’t dare touch him out of fear of being bitten again. That was ridiculous, he thought. Yet so real.

“Okay, Zanark. Please say something. Try to tell me what happened, it’s just me. No need to freak out.”

He spoke softly, trying to not frighten him, but it took him a while to gain the other’s attention. Zanark kept staring at him, focusing on his lips, looking very confused. He tried opening and closing his mouth, letting out a weird sound with no apparent meaning. He then looked at Gamma again, as if he were seeking approval.

“Are you telling me… you can’t even speak?”

More weird noises that made no sense at all. Zanark kept trying, but seeing that Gamma wasn’t satisfied, he began to get irritated and hitting the ground with his fists.

“No, no, calm down! Stop that!”

He grabbed Zanark’s hands, this time startling him only slightly. At first it seemed he was ready to attack him again, but he then settled down and went back to looking at him. He probably didn’t sense any danger coming from the boy. Gamma thought about how he’d often seen that kind of behavior with dogs.

“Gamma! Where are you?”

The transmitter surprised them both, especially Zanark, who couldn’t seem to understand where the voice was coming from. The other boy sighed and activated the device, ready to reply. But it wasn’t Toudou voice who was calling his name this time, but a squeaky, feminine voice he knew only too well, although he often wished he didn’t. He sighed once more.

“What is it, Beta? I’m working.”

“Are you know? Then why did you not answer just now when the chairman called you, huh? That’s rule number one! A top student like you should know that, am I right, Gammypoo?”

Gamma and Beta had known each other since they were babies and had been teasing each other ever since. Gamma always used to win, mostly because he was the eldest, but as Beta grew up she learned powerful comebacks that she used in Gamma’s weakest moments, just like she was doing right then. If he had been able to concentrate, he would’ve probably been able to shut her up for a few minutes, but he just wasn’t up to it. He muttered a “yeah, right” leaving Beta the upper hand.

“Did you at least find that good-for-nothing Zanark?”

“I’m not sure.”

He wasn’t. Was that person really Zanark, or just some weird naked and confused boy that happened to look a lot like him. He was starting to develop a head-ache. And so was Beta.

“Do you want to keep playing the mystery game or are you done fucking around with me?!”

Getting scolded by both of Beta’s personalities was the last thing he wanted. He let out one last exasperated sigh, looking at the terrified boy who wouldn’t stop screaming. Maybe letting El Dorado have a look at him was the best solution.

“Yes, I found him. Returning to headquarters.”

“Good boy. That wasn’t so hard, now was it, Gammypoo?”

He turned the transmitter off, tired of hearing Beta’s taunts. He silently crept towards Zanark, trying very hard not to scare him again.

“Come on now. We are going home.”

He knew that Zanark wouldn’t understand him, but he wasn’t going to give up. He took his hand again, trying to help him stand up. Zanark looked interested. A little shaky at first, he finally manage to stand up, without letting go of the other’s hand. He seemed really proud of him self.

“Very good. Sadly I don’t have any treats with me. Hold tight now.”

He took his teleporting device out of his pocket, firmly grasping Zanark’s hand as he activated it. He desperately hoped that his boyfriend wouldn’t let go of it out of fright and end up in some other unknown place where he would have never been able to find him. Luckily, everything went smoothly and the main corridor of El Dorado appeared in front of their eyes… and so did Beta, looking disgusted.

“What have you two been doing?!”

Gamma’s face turned as pale as his hair. He had somehow completely forgotten that Zanark was still dirty, messy and most of all, still in his birthday suit. He did not look like someone who had been sleeping soundly for many days and Gamma could perfectly picture many misunderstandings, but he chose to pretend he didn’t.

“What do you mean? Are you having dirty thoughts, Beta? Not very lady-like of you…”

“Yes, yes, how ‘bout less saving your ass and more explaining to the chairman?” She chuckled, moving closer to Zanark “And what do you have to say for yourself?”

Zanark stared at her, analyzing every aspect of her. He then jumped once more and swiftly moved towards Beta. Gamma tried to stop him, thinking he was going to bite her too. But it was too late: he had done much, much worse.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

She slapped him and violently pushed him away, then running away towards the chairman’s office. Gamma was even paler than before; he never thought that his boyfriend would reach such limits. Though in Zanark’s defence, thought the young agent, he probably had simply noticed that Beta had something that he and Gamma didn’t and decided to examine said element in the worst way possible.

“SIR, ZANARK JUST CLUTCHED MY BREAST!!”

“Zanark, you say?”

Walking steadily and slowly, chairman Toudou Heikichi joined the others, looking concerned. He looked visibly exhausted, Saru’s return was taking it’s toll on the elderly man and he did not seem like he wanted to handle a harassment matter at the moment. He decided to briefly ignore Beta’s cries and focus on Avalonic’s return. One thing at a time, he thought to himself. At least he was back.

“Good job, Gamma.” He complimented, absent-minded “Well then, Zanark. How about leaving Beta’s bosom alone and rather telling us what you have discovered, why you haven’t contacted us and possibly even why you are completely naked?”

Before Gamma could intervene, Zanark had already been observing the chairman from close up and was biting his sleeve. Toudou grabbed him by the shoulders, looking concerned and a little disgusted, and gently moved him away… that’s when he noticed the scratch on his left cheek, that despite being an old wound was bleeding again after Beta’s violent slap. Others would have ignored, it was just a scratch, nothing serious that couldn’t be healed. But to him, that wasn’t a scratch: it was a mark. He could almost feel it’s pain. But he didn’t want to remember why.

“Sir,” luckily Gamma intervened just in time, blocking the sad thoughts “please forgive Zanark. I don’t know what, or how, but something is very wrong with him…”

“I know, Gamma. I know. Come, sit down and tell me everything. I’ll get some tea made.”

 

Sedating Zanark had not been an easy task. It wouldn’t have been even he had been acting normally, but at that moment, when everything scared him. He did not accept to be held still while a machine was connected to his brain and determined once and for all what was wrong with him. Sakamaki Togurou, Toudou’s right-hand man and head of the lab, had had enough of trying to fight against a 180 pound naked and hysterical young man, so he had to resort to chloroform. Lots and lots of chloroform.

With Zanark’s loud snoring as a background noise, Toudou and the two agents sat in front of a warm cup of tea, hoping it would help them relax and focus. Gamma had had a hard time explaining what had happened, he was agitated that he ended muffling his words and having to start again. If Beta hadn’t been there to mock him, he might have even let himself have a panic attack. The girl was instead quite calm; what first was shocking and degrading now seemed to her ridiculous and entertaining. She grinned: something mischievous was surely on her mind. Meantime, Heikichi tapped his fingers impatiently, glancing over to Sakamaki to check how much time was left before they could have the answer they were looking for. He couldn’t stop thinking about that scratch, that bloody tear that streamed down the young rebel’s face, just like so many years before…

“Analysis complete.”

A robotic voice informed them that the moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived. Toudou stood up and joined Sakamaki, reading the results multiple times, each time more carefully than the other, while Gamma just stared blankly, hoping for answers.

“Tabula rasa.”

Was that it? Was that he answer?

“I beg your pardon?”

“Tabula rasa. It’s a Latin term that indicates an ancient wax tablet that can be erased at will. This is exactly what has happened to Zanark.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means” Sakamaki cut in “that all of Zanark’s memories are gone. It’s not just a simple amnesia. Everything he has seen and learned during his life has been completely wiped clean. That’s why he can’t talk, walk, or recognize anything. It’s all gone.”

“But how did this happen, sir? Did he hit his head or something? Did he wipe out his own memory by meddling with the mind control machine? I heard that can happen sometimes…”

“It can, and it has, but no machine can wipe out an entire lifetime of memories just like that. Not that we know of anyway. But we are fairly certain that this was the doing of them. The SSC. That scratch Zanark has on his cheek… that’s the bloody tear. It’s their mark. It means thing are getting serious.”

It somehow made sense. Zanark had gone looking for them and had returned completely brain damaged. They had special powers, so they could well have done something like that. It was cruel, just like them.

“Listen to me carefully, both of you. Especially you, Gamma.” Toudou took a deep breath “I think Saru is trying to tell us that he hasn’t given up. That what they did to Zanark, they can do to us. We have to keep a close eye on them and patrol every day. Gamma, you must take care of Zanark. We don’t know if he will ever come back to normal, but we can try to teach him again what he needs to know. In the state he is in, he learns fast and is a great observer. It will take some time, of course. You, being the closest to him, are the best teacher he can have. We will also need you to help us patrolling though, so you must make sure that he is never alone and never leaves the house. Do you understand?”

He did. It didn’t make him any less worried. His boyfriend was no longer the man he knew. He was nothing but a shell with the soul of a newborn child. His eyes weren’t the only thing that were empty: Zanark Avalonic was now an empty man.

“Smart. You can count on me, sir.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to call this chapter "The one of the 1000 headcanons".

**C** _hapter three__

_(Baby steps)_

 

 

After Beta, Gamma and Zanark had left, El Dorado’s laboratory had fallen silent and gloomy. It also reflected the way chairman Toudou was feeling; he kept staring into nothingness, tapping his fingers nervously. Sakamaki knew him only too well and could almost feel the chairman’s anxiety becoming his own. Heikichi was easily stressed. As his closest co-worker and oldest friend, Togurou had to do his best to prevent this and always be by his side. He locked eyes with him and cleared his throat.

“Well, the tea party is over now. Shall I ask Tru to clear the table?”

“Don’t use your assistant as a servant. I’ll do it in a minute, it was my idea after all.”

“I’ve got a lot to clean up too anyway. Zanark sure made a mess of my stuff… It’s important government material, so if anything is broken he is going to be in big trouble, I don’t care how mentally handicapped he is at the moment… Yes, yes, I know: ‘that was unnecessarily mean, Togurou’, right?”

But his superior said nothing. Sakamaki had never been good at casual conversation or cheering people up and often ended up making black humor out of serious situations and getting scolded for that. But Toudou did not speak and simply turned his gaze to the window. An autumnal storm was on its way and the sky was as dark and miserable as the atmosphere in the lab. Sakamaki let out a spiteful chuckle; even the weather was making fun of them.

“We have ourselves quite a situation here, so we do.”

Heikichi stood up and began to clear the table. He then stopped suddenly and let out a deep, worried sigh.

“Right you are, Togurou. I haven’t seen anything like this since… well, since Kizaru.”

 

 

In the condition he was in, everything was new and fascinating for Zanark: streetlights, cars, raindrops, even Gamma’s front door. His boyfriend hesitated before inserting the secret code to open it. He needed sometime to think.

Gamma came from a family of dog breeders. He had seen many puppies in his life and had watched them as they curiously learned everything about the big world around them. He remembered the first time he was allowed his very own dog, Fuka, how scared she was of the surroundings, but how quickly she warmed up to everyone and everything, taking her own time before becoming the loyal, clever old dog who was probably sleeping on the rug at his parents’ home, waiting patiently for her dinner. The white-haired boy shook his head: was he really comparing Zanark to a puppy? But what if that was just the thing? What if from then on he’d just have to patiently wait for him to learn while they searched for a solution? What if they never found a solution? Was that really the moment to think about it?

“Let’s just get inside before it rains even more.” He finally entered the code to open the door “I hate the smell of wet dog.”

He immediately regretted those words. But as Zanark followed him inside, looking scared and nervous, he was reminded of the puppy once more. But it didn’t take long for curiosity to overcome fear and in no time the once dangerous criminal was touching everything he saw and Gamma had to save a few family heirlooms before they ended up falling to their doom. Scolding him was no use, he couldn’t understand him. But he was, as the chairman had said, a very fast learner, so it worth a try. He grabbed him by the shoulders, hoping a firm “no” would do the trick… but then he saw them again. Those empty eyes. The reminder that the Zanark he had learned to love had been replace by a human puppy. No. No, he hadn’t. Zanark was still Zanark, he had to be. Gamma wanted to believe that somehow, somewhere, he was still there.

“Zanark… what happened to you…?”

He held him tight while gently stroking his back. His boyfriend at first didn’t react, but somehow seemed to enjoy the attention. But then he looked back at Gamma, frustrated. Something was wrong.

“…nark?”

The El Dorado agent understood. Of course! Right from the start, Zanark had seemed to want to talk. He loosened the hug and tried to look at him in the eyes. The least he could do was teach him his own name.

“Za-nar-k” He spoke slowly and pointed at him “Zanark. You are Zanark.”

“Zaaaa… naaaark?”

“Yes! Zanark.”

“Za… Za-nark.”

“Very good!”

He clapped his hands. He was proud he had made some progress. Teaching Zanark the essentials was the main thing to focus on. He would think about the rest later. Zanark wanted to learn, after all. Even it took ages, even if he had to teach him to speak one word, Gamma would do all he could. Meantime, his boyfriend seemed even more happy he had just learned something new. He threw his arms around Gamma’s shoulders, possibly trying to imitate the hug.

“Zanark! Zanark!”

“Slow down, now!” Gamma laughed. He didn’t expected to be such fun “I’m not Zanark anyway. You are Zanark. Me,” he pointed at himself “I’m Gamma. Gam-ma.”

“Ga-ma?”  
“Gamma.”

“Gamma?”

“Good job!”

It was ridiculous. But also so much fun for both of them. Zanark looked at him and smiled. It was his first smile since the accident and it made Gamma feel a lot better. Zanark was not a puppy, he simply had the mind of a very small child. Except children took months to say the their first words, while it had taken him only a few hours. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad… or so he thought before noticing that Zanark had let go of him and was attempting to eat a cushion.

“Zanark, no! That’s not food!”

It wasn’t a surprise that Zanark was hungry, after all he hadn’t eaten. At El Dorado they had given him some clothes, but not any food.

“Stay here. I… Gamma… get food. Zanark wait.”

Of course, that had little effect, as Zanark kept munching on the cushion. Gamma sighed; the sacrifice of one cushion was something he could afford, but he would have to prepare him some food that would satisfy him before he ended up eating the entire apartment. He selected a steak from the fridge, hoping that even without his memory it would still be his boyfriend’s favorite dish. But just as he had began to cook it, the doorbell rang.

“Gammypoo? Are you hoooome?”

Beta, the queen of bad timing. Gamma recognized her voice: it was her “I’m-defenetly-up-to-something-you-are-not-going-to-enjoy” voice. He did not want to deal with that.

“Okay, make it quick.” He opened the door without looking at her“I’m cooking steak for Zanark and you know he likes it rare.”

“Oh, that mindless blob won’t care. Soooo… how’s it going?” She splashed him with her little blue umbrella, irritating him even more “Are you being a good mummy?”

“It’s going rather well, thank you very much. If you are so interested why don’t you come and see for yourself?”

“Oh no no no, I have my pilates lesson in half an hour! Why don’t you join me this time? No one can make fun of you now!”

Gamma missed pilates. Many times he had skipped lessons, because Zanark once laughed at him and called him “pussy” and they ended up fighting over the matter and it took them a long time to make up. But Zanark would have not made fun of him at that moment, because he wouldn’t have understood. But he also wouldn’t have understood why he was being left alone.

“…I can’t leave him, he needs me.”

“’course he does. Well, see you later then.”

“Do you really expect me to believe you came all this way under the pouring rain just to invite me to do pilates with you? You really think me that stupid?”

“A woman can dream, Gammypoo.”

She smirked. Another bad sign.

“So, what is it you want.”

“How do I put this… the chairman asked you to be that tramp’s teacher. Why you? Because he is a very fast learner and you are the closest to him. Why not me? Because he is a very fast learner…”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to try and sabotage me by teaching Zanark wrong and embarrassing things just for your own personal enjoyment, not to mention vendetta.”

“All right then. I won’t tell you.”

“Keep dreaming then, woman.”

Beta said nothing else, for she felt she had already won, but knew that Gamma was good at comebacks. She had done what she had came to do, so she simply turned away and trotted along the road, singing “I’m going to pilates” in an annoying tone while leaving her old childhood friend exasperated, thinking about what he could do to contrast Beta’s evil schemes. But his thoughts were interrupted by a cry and a strong smell of burned meat. Dinner was ruined. It was going to take a lot more patience than he had planned, but he could do it. Not with his usual over the top confidence, but with one baby step at a time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone gets confused: Sakamaki mentioned someone called Tru. She is actually my main OC, but she will not be appearing in this story, I just wanted to give her this small cameo to honour her. Kizaru, on the other hand...


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small disclaimer about the name thing: Japanese is weird. The same name in katakana can be transcribed in different ways, for example Fei and Fey or Gillis and Giris. I'm going to use "Fey" and "Gillis" because it's what I am used to seeing in fansubs. I hope this doesn't bother anyone.

**C** _ hapter four_ _

_ (truth vs dare) _

 

 

About three months had passed since Zanark’s unfortunate encounter with the Second Stage Children. Some progress had been achieved: it had taken him only ninety days for him to reach the intellectual capacities of a four or five year old child. He could now talk, walk and express himself with simple words and gestures, but had trouble reasoning and knowing what the right thing to do was. Gamma was not a qualified teacher and he didn’t have infinite time and patience, so he would sometimes rely on  what was considered to be a child’s best friend: television.  Cartoons and puppets were far more colorful and captivating and by sitting together and watching TV Gamma could explain and compare far more easily and Zanark seemed to enjoy it. Despite loving his cartoons, Zanark simply adored having company. He would start complaining whenever he was left alone for more than two minutes and would always look for Gamma, asking him to play with him. And although Gamma was happy to help his boyfriend recover, he couldn’t always be by his side. El Dorado needed his help; with Saru and his gang on the loose, patrolling missions had become more and more frequent. But the agent couldn’t leave Zanark alone, neither could he taking him with him. So, he had to resort to babysitters… well, sort of. Zanark had a close friend, Shura, who had been his teammate back in Zanark Domain. They had known each other for a few years and after Ragnarok they had often  gone out for drinks together. When he discovered that Zanark had no memories of him or of anything else, Shura took it surprisingly well and offered to help by organizing indoor activities that would keep Zanark entertained while Gamma was out. Even if they always ended up making a mess, the memory-less boy always seemed happy after a day with his old-time buddy, so his boyfriend would clean up after them with a smile.

But on that cold December day Gamma hadn’t been able to reach Shura in any way. It was becoming urgent,  he had to be at headquarters the next hour and his number one resort was unavailable… he desperately hoped it would be the same for his number two resort, which he had called out of desperation and immediately regretted doing so. After not even five minutes the doorbell rang. Zanark jumped up and down in joy, knowing immediately what was coming.

“Gamma, Gamma, it’s Beta!”

Beta had kept her promise. She had often payed the couple a visit with no particular reason, if not to toy with Zanark and make him do embarrassing chores for her or other degrading activities, such as getting makeovers and manicures, folding her clothes or calling her “Lady Beta”. He never complained: in the state he was, he actually really liked Beta. This irritated Gamma, who was constantly reminded of how much Zanark had changed, and felt ashamed of himself that time when Beta dyed his boyfriend’s hair pink  and he had to try really hard not to laugh . But that day he was running very late, so he had no choice bu t to let his guest in.

“How come you don’t have a mission today?”

“I guess the chairman thought my skills would be wasted with a simple patrol mission! So then, where’s my Zannypoo?”

“Zannypoo” came running to her and greeted her with a bow, which made her grin. Gamma crossed his arms and cleared his throat. 

“Okay then, if you are both settled I can go now, the chairman is waiting. Don’t go out, it’s very cold today. Beta, don’t do anything drastic, that pink hair dye took forever to wash out. Zanark… you also be good, okay?”

“Okay Gamma, have a nice day!”

He stood up and gave Gamma a small kiss on the lips, which made him smile. They often kissed, although it was more an affectionate gesture rather than a romantic one. Feeling slightly reassured, he said goodbye once more and left the other two home alone. Beta rubbed her hands together and smiled.

“Tell me, Zannypoo, would you like to comb my hair?”

“With pleasure, Lady Beta!”

It was something she  often asked him to do. For some reason, Zanark seemed to be good with the comb and Beta liked to pretend she was at the hairdresser and chatting about the latest gossip while he happily laughed, even if he understood very little of what she said.  But this time he payed no attention to what she was saying, as he appeared to be distracted by something else.

“Lady Beta, who’s the stool-person?”

“The what?”

“Gamma said that the stool-person was waiting for him, who is the stool-person?”

“Not the stool-person, the chairman! He is the most important person in the world!”

“Oh, okay then! But where is Gamma?”

He was bound to ask sooner or later, he was curious after all. But Gamma had never explained to him what exactly his job was, because he knew that Zanark wouldn’t understand and would end up worrying.  But Beta told him more or less what his boyfriend did when he left the house, telling him that Gamma helped fighting crime. Zanark’s eyes widened.

“So like a superhero? Gamma is so cool!”

“What? No way. He is only doing this so you can go back to normal and stop being a nuisance to him.”

“What’s a ‘nuisance’?”

“It means you are annoying. Now, would you please keep combing my hair?”

But Zanark stood still and didn’t move. Beta had said those words as a joke, thinking he wouldn’t understand her. But he wanted to understand. He wanted to know what those harsh words meant.

“Lady Beta, why am I annoying?”

“What do you mean why? Because you can’t remember anything, of course!”

“I… I can’t?”

“Of course you wouldn’t notice, dummy. But don’t tell me Gamma never told you that they took away your memories and transformed you into a big mindless baby!”

“What’s a ‘memory’?”

“Wow, you really are stupid. Are you going to comb my hair or not?”

He dropped the comb and held his head in his hands. A “memory”. What did Beta mean when she said that he didn’t have any. It was too confusing for him. He ignored the girl’s complaints and ran to his room, waiting for Gamma, staring out of the window with his empty eyes, the eyes of a child who had faced reality for the first time.

 

 

Meia looked curiously at the sphere of light sitting before her eyes. She was fascinated by it and had been staring at it intensely for several minutes, captivated by its beauty and energy. Beauty and energy… so perfect.

“Isn’t it splendid?”

She was so caught up gazing at the sphere that she almost hadn’t noticed that Saru was behind her. His gentle touch brought her back to earth from the mystic world she had immersed herself into. She smiled at him softly and closed her eyes.

“It really is. I would have never expected something so beautiful to come from something so… well, you know.”

“Really? You’re the maximum expert in beauty after all, Meia.”

He smiled back at her, caressing  her cheek. He wasn’t used to being affectionate, but that didn’t mean that his love wasn’t sincere. She knew that. She held his hand tightly, thanking the heavens for noticing Saryuu’s great value and accepting him as his soulmate instead of the weaker and less reliable Gillis she once thought she loved.

“It’s almost time.” He said, carefully adjusting his goggles “How about you make us some tea? Our guest will arrive any moment now.”

As soon as he had finished speaking he heard a loud knocking on the door, followed by a young boy’s voice, reveling that his guest had arrived. He gave Meia a peck on the forehead and left her to make the tea, while he rushed to greet Fey Rune.

“Well hello, old pal. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Saru, what are you doing?” The green haired boy looked at him with pleading eyes “Why are you attacking El Dorado again?”

“Please, sit down first. I’ll explain everything. That’s why I invited you here.”

Fey was a kind boy. Saru had been his friend when he needed him the most, so he felt he had to help him to. He sat on a small armchair, thanking Meia for the tea and settled down, ready to have a calm discussion with who he once considered his best and only friend. 

“So, what’s the reason behind these attacks?”

“A huge mistake, that’s what.”

Fey looked at him, surprised. Saru was admitting a mistake? He really had changed after all. He probably was in dire n eed of help. 

“What… what kind of mistake?”

“We just weren’t ready, Fey. We weren’t ready to give up our powers. It’s all we have ever known in our life, so we’ve been acting out of instinct and rage. But we’re falling back, there’s too many and they now know how to fight back. But now it’s too late… we’ve created so much damage.”

“I get it… but we can help you, Saru. I’ll even ask my dad.”

“You… you would?”

“Of course! Don’t you remember what Tenma said? We’re all friends now!”

“Friendship…”

Saru looked down, thinking about Tenma Matsukaze and his friendship talks. But friendship wasn’t as easy as his distant relative made it look. Saru didn’t want to think about it any longer, so he simply pointed at the the ball of light.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes, very. What is it?”

“It’s Zanark.”

“What?!”

“You’ve probably heard about the… ‘incident’, right? Well, these are his memories. I wanted to ask you if you could return them to him. If I tried… well, I’d probably be attacked.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to explain the situation to El Dorado.”

“Thank you, Fey. You’re such a nice guy.”

Meia watched her beloved as he handed the sphere of memories  to the other boy. Beauty and energy… she could feel them even more.

“It’s… warm.” Fey observed “It’s almost as if it’s alive…”

“It is. Memories are what truly make someone who they are.”

“Amazing…”

“Quite right. And you’re going to feel just how amazing it is on your own skin… _traitor._ ”

He snapped his fingers and Fey fell to the ground. The sphere had began to enter his body, burning his brain with great strength. Saru wanted someone to store those powerful memories, the source of Zanark’s power, so that he could use it at will. He was a true master of trickery and dare. 

“Why…?”

That was all Fey managed  to say before losing consciousness. Zanark’s memories were strong, it would take a while before Fey got accustomed to them, but it was all worth it.

“For Kizaru.”


	6. Chapter Five

**C** _ hapter five_ _

_(I love you)_

 

 

Gamma never thought that there would be a day in which he’d see Zanark in complete silence. Since he had returned home from the patrolling mission, his boyfriend had only simply waved to him and had payed no attention to Beta when she left. He just sat quietly in a corner with his thoughts, as still as a statue.

It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. A month earlier, Zanark had found a dead little bird on the windowsill and had asked Gamma if they could keep it as a pet. After he had learned that the bird was never going to fly again, the boy with no memories stayed in his room for an hour in complete silence and then started sobbing, terrified of the newly learned concept of death. But after a nice dinner than Gamma prepared for him he stopped thinking about it and returned cheerful. But that time it was different: Zanark said he wasn’t hungry and refused to eat. And that, even with no memories, was very unusual for him.

But the situation became even more unusual when Zanark said that that night he wanted to sleep alone  instead of sharing the bed with Gamma and cuddling up to him whenever the darkness of the night made him feel lonely or scared. Maybe he was trying to be brave… but his boyfriend wasn’t convinced. Something felt wrong.

“I don’t mind if we share the bed, really.” He tried to tell him “You don’t have to worry about it…”

“I want to sleep alone.”

“But why? Did Beta say something? She was probably joking.”

“No, she didn’t say anything.”

“Then why?”

“Because I want to.”

He was beginning to lose his temper. He did not want to have a fight with someone whose brain functioned like one of a toddler.

“Listen up young man, it’s late and I’m tired. If you want to eat something, explain what’s wrong and then share the bed with me as usual, this is your last chance, otherwise I’ll get very angry and I’ll send you to sleep in the old guest room.”

He was sure that would convince Zanark to stop being so sad and mysterious. But instead, he chose the second option and slowly walked towards the guest room, an old bedroom that had hardly ever been used and, if it hadn’t been for Gamma’s obsession with cleanliness, would have been completely covered in dust.

Gamma couldn’t stop him. It was Zanark’s decision, even if to him it seemed to be an unreasonable one. But he didn’t want his boyfriend to sleep alone because he always wanted to keep an eye on him in case something else happened and he hated not knowing why he was acting that way. The white haired boy was getting more and more stressed by the minute. He stomped first to the kitchen, where he took some leftovers out of the fridge, then to the guest room, where Zanark was sitting down with his head buried in his knees.

“Eat.” He ordered him “And don’t say you’re not hungry, I don’t believe you. Please… please, just eat something and tell me what’s going on. I’m really worried, you know…”

“That’s not true.”

“What?”

“It’s not true. You don’t care. I’m strange. I’m weird. I’m… a nuisance. I don’t remember, that’s what Beta said. But I do… I remember when it was raining and you said ‘flood’ and it was a funny word. I remember to brush my teeth after dinner, like you always say. I remember many things, but I don’t know… I don’t know what a memory is. Is that why you say I don’t remember? What did I do wrong, Gamma? Am I a strange person? You always say I shouldn’t talk to strange people… See? I remembered that too!”

Those words hit Gamma’s heart. He had always been afraid of them. He had imagined that Zanark sooner or later would’ve noticed that something was different about him, but he had hoped he wouldn’t. He had underestimated him. He tried to find the right words, but he stuttered.

“Let… let me explain.”

But he didn’t know how to. He realized that he should’ve started explaining the situation a lot earlier, a little at a time. That way, he wouldn’t have had to see Zanark on the verge of tears.

“I’m… so sorry…”

But what was an apology going to do? What was he apologizing for, anyway? He couldn’t look Zanark in the eyes. Those empty eyes had never been more devastated.

“You… you are not a bad person, Zanark. Don’t you ever, ever think that, understand?”

It was Gamma who cried. He had been suppressing those tears for months. He was so afraid of losing his cool, of being laughed at, that he had kept everything inside. But he finally managed to let himself go, as he hugged his partner tightly, more afraid than ever that he would lose him. He took a deep breath and held onto Zanark’s hand, stroking it from time to time, trying to calm down and find the right words once more, some easy words that they could both understand. He told him that there really was a bad person, so bad he had used his dark powers to make Zanark forget his past, like an enchantment. He told him that if he wanted, he could tell him everything he wanted to know about his past, and Shura could too, because he knew him better than anyone, and that would’ve been nice, wouldn’t it? And that many people were working hard to bring things back to normal, because they cared about him and the things that Beta had said were nothing but a stupid bad joke, because women were so strange… that even made Zanark chuckle. The boy with no memories listened carefully to each and every word. He then grabbed his shoulders gently and looked him in the eyes, to show him he was being serious.

“Gamma.”

“What… what is it, Zanark?”

“If this scary evil Saru ever does ANYTHING bad again, you tell me right away, ‘kay?”

“All right… I will.”

“And you must never ever ever ever cry again. You told me that tears are sad and ugly, so no more tears, promise? I don’t want you to be sad, because I love you!”

Gamma jumped hearing those words, those sincere, precious, pure words. For the first time in so long, he finally had all the answers he was looking for. For the first time in so long, he finally had the right words.

“I love you too, Zanark.”

 

 

 

“How are you feeling?”

That was probably the tenth time that day that Saru had asked Fey that question. After he had regained consciousness, he had hardly spoken, if not with cold, monosyllabic words. He kept his head low, his gaze was absent and distance… Saru hoped nothing had gone wrong.

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“You sure you don’t need anything?”

“Nah.”

Saryuu Evan was satisfied. Fey, his old friend, was his final resort. Thanks to his silver tongue, he had him fighting by his side again, transforming him into a sort of living container of Zanark’s memories so that they couldn’t fall into the wrong hands. It also made him the perfect hostage; “if you want the stolen memories back, you must attack the kid”. That old man Toudou hated those kind of situations. And last but not least, Fey could control every side of Zanark’s memories at will, as if he could control his soul, he could know his weaknesses and his strong points, maybe even use his Keshin if needed. Everything was going according to plan. But Fey’s distance worried him slightly.

“You know what you have to do, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“I said I’d help, right?”

“Of course. Thank you, Fey.”

“Why are you calling me Fey?”

Silence. Saru took a minute to think. Had something happened to Fey’s memories? No, of course not. He probably was still a little confused. He simply laughed and shrugged.

“You’re a good person, Fey.”

“…I knew you’d say that.”

Saru laughed once more and left Fey with his thoughts. What he didn’t know, or he’d chosen to ignore, was that someone was observing every move he made. Someone who had kept silent too long.

“You’ve really gone too far this time, Saru. Too far.”

And as he muttered those words, Gillis slowly walked to the El Dorado main building.

 


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mild gore.

**C** _hapter six__

_(Saru and Kizaru)_

 

 _Freeze._ One single command, repeated three times. Gillis may not have had Meia by his side anymore, but he still had his dignity and his desire to be respected and they were stronger than ever.

It was the morning of the day after he had spied on Saru and Fey. He had arrived at El Dorado HQ, guards had surrounded him, _freeze_. They asked him what he wanted, he replied “I wish to speak to the chairman”, once again _freeze._ The permission was granted, Gillis was invited into his office, one more time _freeze_. The chairman finally sent the guards away and the once member of Feida could finally initiate a conversation; he explained that his intentions were far from evil, he actually wanted to help. After Gillis had decided to take the vaccine and live a normal life, he and Saru bitterly parted ways. He found Saryuu Evan’s ideas of revenge to be terrifying and over the limit, which first led him to be dumped by Meia and then to rethink his lifestyle from scratch. He wanted to offer his help and support and hoped El Dorado would accepted. But although Toudou seemed to understand his point of you, Sakamaki still seemed rather skeptical.

“I wouldn’t listen to him if I were you,” he suggested “after all, we’ve all seen that Second Stage Children aren’t good at keeping promises.”

“Let him talk. He’s not one of them anymore. He’s just someone who’s lost everything and needs a helping hand. You should know something about that.”

“That’s enough, I understand.” He scoffed, turning his head away “Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.”

“Well then.” He smiled “It’s Gillis, right? Do you have anything else you want to say?”

Only then did he lower his arms. The chairman’s smile disappeared.

“Who’s Kizaru?”

Sakamaki stood up, ready to call security to get rid of his unwanted guest. But Toudou immediately stopped him with a single movement of his hand.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

Gillis nodded. But even if he had said no, he couldn’t have stopped those old memories that came flowing back to the chairman’s mind every time he closed his eyes. He finally decided he would let them be and tell the dreadful story of what happened eleven years prior…

 

“ _Heikichi.”_

_He was watching the city from the rooftop, like he did when the stress was just too much, when that call brought him back to reality. He turned around to smile at his wife, still beautiful despite not being as young as she used to be. They both knew though that that smile was nothing but a facade. The woman tilted her head, looking straight at him, her eyes telling him to stop pretending everything was all right._

“ _Forgive me, Hana. I needed sometime alone, but I can’t escape from my duties for ever. I guess I’m not the chairman El Dorado deserves…”_

“ _Don’t be silly.” She hugged him from behind, letting him stroke her wavy mahogany hair “You are doing a great job by reassuring the people and conducting research on these Second Level Whatsit rascals…”_

“ _Second Stage Children.”_

“ _Exactly! You’ve discovered so many things about them: the SSC gene, their short lifespan, the only problem is…”_

“ _The only problem is Kizaru.”_

_They both sighed. Only thinking about that boy, that devilish boy who seemed to hate the entire world, could make anyone shiver in fear. Second Stage Children had appeared many years earlier, but they were never an issue, they simply were a group of adolescents with mysterious powers who sometimes liked to show off, nothing unstoppable. But then a new boy arrived, stronger, more resistant, evil and full of hatred, who claimed that people like him were nothing but misunderstood and led them to get revenge over those who had neglected them. He called himself Kizaru, but nothing else was known about him. Only that he was a danger to everyone._

“ _Are you stressing over everything again, dad?”_

_Toudou must’ve had been really absent-minded to not have heard the arrival of Aya, his beloved daughter. A beautiful woman with long read hair, recently married to the man of her dreams and noticeably six months pregnant. She was expecting a little girl and she couldn’t be happier._

“ _What would I do without my beautiful women?” He smiled again, this time sincerely “I can’t have you worrying like this.”_

“ _That’s right dad! You’ll see, everything will turn out for the best, like it always does. We will all give you a hand, so you better not become a grumpy grandpa who scares little girls!”_

_They all laughed. His family was his everything, with them by his side he felt invincible. With them by his side he felt safe. With them by his side…_

 

“That’s it.” Sakamaki interrupted, looking rather worried “He’s heard more than enough.”

“I haven’t told him anything yet.”

“I don’t want you to force yourself…”

“I’m not. We’re in danger once more, in case you hadn’t noticed, the boy has a right to know what could happen, but only if he’s ready. Are you, Gillis?”

He nodded once more, adjusting his glasses. He could feel it, he could feel a great pain tormenting Toudou Heikichi. He could almost hear him scream.

 

 

_Heikichi was having trouble sleeping that night. It was no secret that he often suffered from insomnia, but that night it felt different. Something was piercing through his brain, something incredibly painful. Maybe he was overthinking as usual and he just needed a glass of warm milk and some pills for his headache. But just as he was getting out of bed he noticed that Hana wasn’t sleeping beside him. Very strange, considering she was a very heavy sleeper. He quickly looked for her around the house, only to realize she had gone missing. He then noticed a small piece of paper on the table in the living room: Hana was a very organized woman and whenever she had to go out she always left a detailed note explaining where and why she had gone. But that note was a rather strange one. It was as if she had written it while trembling. Also, it only read two words: “El Dorado”. He decided to head to headquarters as fast as he could, using all the teleportation mechanisms he could find. Once he got there, the atmosphere was dark and gloomy. The guards were nowhere to be seen. Something felt horribly wrong._

“ _Hana? Hana, are you here?!”_

_Nothing. Then, a distant laughter, coming from his office. Heikichi was terrified, but his legs were moving on their own, walking towards his work room._

“ _Look who’s finally come to join the party! Come on in, old Tou’, everyone’s waiting just for you!”_

_A young man with light blue hair and goggles on his eyes was sitting on Toudou’s armchair with his feet on his desk. Kizaru. With him, a very young boy, maybe three or four years old with snow white hair. But Heikichi didn’t focus his attention on either of them, rather on the horrible scene set in front of his eyes. Hana was lying on the ground, like an abandoned marionette, with more than three quarters of her bones missing. A couple of feet further was Aya’s newly wedded husband, Hiroji… Hiroji’s head. His mouth was still open, he had probably been shouting for help. The body was nowhere to be seen, in it’s stead were a puddle of blood and his left arm, reaching out towards something… someone. Aya’s body was in the worst condition. Her chest had been opened and her internal organs had been removed and scattered around her. The blood she was laying in creepily matched the color of her hair. Another small bloody lump lay next to her feet. It took Toudou a couple of seconds before he realized with horror that it was Aya’s fetus. It seemed as though they had all been attacked from the inside… Kizaru had used his powers, he didn’t get his hands dirty. Heikichi wanted to cry, shout, attack… But he stood still, looking at the lifeless bodies, their faces marked by a deep scratch. The bloody tear, that’s what Kizaru called it. It was his signature._

“ _Look, big brother, look how scared he is!” The little boy laughed innocently “I bet he’s going to wet himself!”_

“ _Maybe you’re right, Saryuu. So, Tou’, what do you say? No comments? What will you do now, I wonder?”_

_He remained in silence, as the other two laughed louder and louder. He felt like a schoolboy tormented by bullies who couldn’t react, but only hope it would all end soon. But he had to gather his courage… No, he had no courage left. He gathered his fear and asked his question._

“… _why them?”_

“ _Why them? Anyone else would’ve been fine then? That’s not very nice of you to say.” He smirked “I need you to be weak. You need the same for me, am I right? So, I did a favor to the both of us.”_

“ _What do you mean?”_

_Kizaru stroked the little boy’s hair, who looked at him with admiration. He then noticed that the elderly man had fallen to his knees in shock. He smirked once more._

“ _Do you know how old I am, Tou’? I’m over twenty-one. Doesn’t like it, does it? That’s quite a lot for someone like me. We’re both veterans in a way, right? We’re similar in more ways than you even know… But you’re probably going to last at least another twenty years. I can call myself lucky if I last another twenty minutes.”_

“ _So you’re…”_

“ _Dying. That’s right. Isn’t this a nice goodbye gift? But even when I’m gone, your life won’t be easy. Someone else will finish what I’ve started. Maybe even Saryuu.” He pointed at the little boy “I found him on the streets, abandoned, and adopted him as my little brother. He’s got potential, but he’s still little. Maybe one day he’ll torment you, just like his big bro. Although he’s got nothing left to take away from you now.”_

“ _I’ll… I’ll put an end to this…”_

“ _Will you now? I doubt it. You can’t even stand up. I didn’t only rid you of your family, no, I rid you of your existence. I… emptied you. And now that you’re just a fragile, empty man, it will take you some time to get back on your feet. And if ever you will, it will be too late. My heir will rise and the world I desire… will crush you all.”_

_Before the man could react, Kizaru and his little brother had already vanished. The sirens started to sound and the guards reappeared. Sakamaki was the first one to reach his side and to witness Toudou’s great despair. Maybe they were still in time to chase after Kizaru… but Toudou couldn’t move. At last, he cried._

 

Gillis remained in silence, in awe and shock. When he still was part of the SSCs, the thought of killing someone in such a brutal fashion just to prove a point had never crossed his mind. He only wanted to get revenge on those who had abandoned him and help Saru create the world they deserve.

“Crushed by the world Kizaru desires… what did Kizaru desire?”

“No one knows. Probably only Saru. Saru really did become his heir.” Toudou looked down “What he did to Zanark… he emptied him. He took away what made him strong. Like Kizaru did to me.”

Sakamaki looked at his boss with sad eyes. He remembered only too well: Toudou’s vacant expression never changed for many months, he wouldn’t eat, talk or walk. It took him ages before he stopped shaking and even more time before he stopped crying every night. Touguro had always been by his side, but it had never been enough. He wanted to be there for him once more, during this new crisis. His transmitter started ringing and he excused himself for a moment, leaving Heikichi and Gillis to talk.

“Please, allow me to help.” Said the boy, determined “I know Saru, Meia and their allies. I can help them reason…”

“Thank you, but I don’t think it’s possible. Saru is Kizaru’s heir, after all…”

“I… I don’t think so. I think Saru… gave that responsibility to Fey.”

“Fey? Fey Rune? He’s in Lisbon, with his father…”

“He’s not. He’s with Saru. Saru gave him Zanark’s memories.”

“Saru did what?!” He started pacing backwards and forwards. Fate was knocking at his door once more, desperate to enter “I… accept you help, Gillis. Be careful.”

“I won’t disappoint you, sir. When do I start?”

“Right now.”

Sakamaki returned, pale and angry. Somehow, things had got worse.

“That was Gamma. Zanark ran away from home.

 


	8. Chapter Seven

**C** _ hapter seven_ _

_(weaponless warrior)_

 

 

The cold wind on his skin made him shiver. So many times he had faced it, challenged it,  loved it. But he couldn’t remember  any of them and so his body, no longer used to it, found it annoying and discouraging. Winter had begun just a week earlier, and what a cold one it was. Only a few brave people where out and about on the streets, enjoying the final days of the year and the magical holiday spirit that still managed to barely survive in an era where progress and technology prevailed.

Zanark knew nothing of the sort, but many things had changed during the night. He know knew he was missing something, something that made him vulnerable and Gamma sad. Gamma told him that he had lost his memories, and, he thought, when you lose something it means you can find it. He also knew that someone had stolen them, so that was a start. It took him a while though to realize that he had know idea where that person could be… even if he had matured a lot, his mentality was still one of a child, a follower  not of reason and logic, but of instinct alone. 

The wind blew stronger. He then noticed some small, white drops, falling from the sky as if they were dancing. Snow. He’d seen it before on TV and it had seemed so fluffy and soft, but as it fell on his nose, it just felt cold and wet, not much different from rain. Disappointed, he looked for shelter under a wide roof. Zanark searched his backpack, which is friend Shura had shown him how to pack during a game of pretend-picnic, and took out a large blanket. He wrapped himself tightly in it, covering himself from head to toe and watch the snow fall heavier. From far away, it looked fun again.  Protected from the cold, h e then decided  to try and explore a little further. The few people had vanished, seeking shelter in the warmth of their own homes, leaving the streets completely deserted… well, almost. One person stood in the middle of the road, staring into space. Curious, Zanark walked towards him; the mysterious person, a young boy, jumped when he noticed him, but immediately went back to staring into space again, acknowledging him with a small nod. If Zanark had had his memories, he surely would have immediately recognized the green-haired boy and maybe even asked himself why his left eye looked darker, almost red. But somehow, he felt at ease with him. And besides, he was completely wrapped in a blanket, so he wouldn’t have been recognized either.

“Aren’t you cold?”

He wanted to talk to him. He liked him already, so brave and mysterious. Having a friend by his side while he searched for his memories would have been nice, he thought. The mysterious boy turned towards him, without changing his expression.

“Huh… No, I’m not. Guess I haven’t been feeling things like that lately. Weird…”

“Lucky! Hey, what’s you name?”

He didn’t answer right away, as if he had been facing the hardest question in a television quiz and his answer would cost him millions. He hesitated, unsure.

“Fe… Fey…” He finally stuttered “At least… I think it is.”

“You don’t know? I don’t really know who I am either, you know? Let’s be friends!”

“Whatever floats your boat, I guess. So, what are you doing out in the cold, Mr. Blanket Man?”

“I’m looking for someone, but I don’t really know his name… Maru, was it? No, maybe Sara…”

“Do you mean Saru?” He tilted his head “Why are you looking for Saru?”

“Do you know him! I really, really need to see him! He stole everything from me, that meanie! I have to get it back… But I don’t really know how…”

At last, the mysterious boy looked right at him. That strange person with the blanket somehow intrigued him. It seemed like he had always known him, but he also wanted to learn more about him. He grinned and looked up at the sky.

“Do you know what you are? You are a warrior on a quest, brave and resolute. But tell me now, have you ever seen a warrior without a sword, a shield, or a magical staff? No, because a weapon is a warrior’s own soul. But you… you are different. You have no weapon, yet you fight as bravely as those who do. That’s something really special.”

Zanark looked at him, in deep awe.  What Fey  had said, even if he hadn’t understood everything, really did make  him feel special. He once again followed his instincts and grabbed his hands, making Fey jump again slightly. He then grinned.

“Anyway, yes. I know where Saru is. Follow me. I’m going there anyway.”

“You are? Did that meanie steal from you too?”

“Well…” He hesitated again “I’m… not sure…”

A stronger gust of wind blew the blanket away, revealing Zanark’s face. He of course shivered, but so did the other boy, for another reason. He started shaking and panting, then he fell to the ground.

“Fey?!”

The boy twitched. His brain was being crushed, the pain was unbearable, everything he knew was being questioned. Something had snapped.

“Za… Zanark.”

“Huh? Yes, yes that’s my name! Do you know me!”

“You’re not Zanark.”

“Yes I am! Are you okay, Fey?”

“I’m not Fey anymore. Actually, I never was.” He looked at him. His eyes had turned bright red “I am Zanark Avalonic.”

“What? No, I am, I am!”

“You are an impostor. They can’t be two Zanarks, can they?”

“That’s right, I am Zanark!”

“I knew you’d say that. But are you sure? Do you have proof? Memories, even? I don’t think so.” He smirked “I’m going back to Saru’s place. If you really want to die, I won’t stop you from following me. I want to see just how far you can get without a weapon, you foolish warrior.”

Fey, or what was left of him, walked away and vanished in the snow, leaving Zanark with even more doubts. He had no proof he really was Zanark. Only Gamma’s words. He trusted Gamma… but was it really the right choice. Only one person could answer everything he wanted to know: Saru. And weaponless or not, he was going to fight for his answers.

 

“You look ridiculous.”

He did. Gillis recognized that the Protocol Omega uniform looked funny on him and, as an aspiring stylist and designer, he felt humiliated. It was also tight and itchy, but that wasn’t the issue. That Beta girl wouldn’t stop laughing and making fun of him… he never thought that such a pretty girl could challenge his patience.

“Chairman Toudou, sir, may I wear my usual uniform? I don’t feel very comfortable wearing this stupi- _stupendous_ article of clothing…”

“I’m sorry Gillis.” Even the chairman smirked, trying not to laugh “But rules are rules. You are working for El Dorado, even though in special circumstances, and this is the designated dress code for our agents. If you like, maybe Togurou can lend you one of the uniforms from Perfect Cascade…”

“Oh Heavens- I mean, thank you sir, I’ll get used to this one, let’s focus on the mission!”

Beta laughed even more. The boy with glasses almost thought of joining Saru’s side once more rather than baring that humiliation. He then noticed somebody else who wasn’t laughing at all and who looked rather annoyed. It was Gamma, who had immediately joined them, worried and determined to find his boyfriend as soon as possible. When he was part of Giru, Gillis and Meia found Gamma amusing and often gossiped about him, “ prince prettyface”, as they used to call him. She had always suspected that Gamma and Zanark would end up together, but neither of them could even imagine the strong bonds that would form between the two.  He thought of going over to him and telling him he was sorry for what had happened, but the cold look he received from him made him realize that Gamma didn’t trust him just yet.

“Gamma.” Toudou turned serious again “Please, tell us exactly what happened. Where did you last see Zanark? Did something happen that would cause him to run? Are you sure he wasn’t kidnapped?”

“Kidnapped?! No, no way! Yesterday we… had a little quarrel about how I never told him that he has no memories. But we settled things, we really did! This morning we had breakfast together as always… now that I think about it, he did say ‘thank you’ many times… anyway, I put the TV on for him and went to have a shower, he was watching that cartoon he likes, so he said I could have a long shower so that he could watch it all… but when I returned from the shower the TV was on but no one was watching it. I rushed to our room and on his side of the bed I found the stuffed animal he likes… I tried calling Shura and his other friends, but they haven’t seen him… I told him about Saru yesterday, I’m scared that he…”

“That he went looking for him?”

He nodded as he bit his lip. The elderly man shook his head and sighed, pacing backwards and forwards.

“Togurou, organize Perfect Cascade and have them patrol for any SSC on the loose. Gamma and Beta, gather everything you need and call for reinforcements, they will work with Perfect Cascade. Gillis, I need the coordinates for Feida’s HQ, stat. We leave in half an hour.”

“Yes sir!”

The war had begun. And not just any war; Kizaru’s war, after eleven years, was ready to be fought. More warriors were joining the fight, and their weapons were sharper than ever.

 


	9. Chapter Eight

**C** _ hapter eight_ _

_(Zanark through the_

_looking glass)_

 

 

Saru blinked a couple of times, surprised by the twist of his own plan. Fey was supposed to be a container for Zanark’s memories, but he never thought that they would end up suppressing young Rune’s own will. They missed being alive and seeing Zanark must have had triggered them somehow, making Fey’s true identity surrender to them. Saryuu didn’t like surprises, but it seemed somehow that Fey still wanted to work for him, so he didn’t care either way. Meia was the one who wasn’t at all convinced and had been nervously tapping her foot since the boy had set foot back in their quarters. She found him irritating and obnoxious.

“Saru…” she said, angrily “I’d get rid of him if I were you.”

“Why should I? He’s even more useful than before. All he wants now is to get rid of what he calls ‘the impostor’ and who am I to say know. By the way, that said ‘impostor’ is following him, and you know what that means: more guests on the way.”

“I still don’t like this… Feynark.”

Saryuu held her hands gently and kissed her on the lips, trying to calm her down.

“Let our good old Fey wreak some havoc, it will give El Dorado a taste of what we can do. That reminds me, I better get a move on.”

He kissed her quickly once more, this time on the cheek, then quickly walked towards the exit. He stopped for a second and turned to a large framed photo of a young man with light blue hair, goggles covering his eyes and a menacing smirk. Saru smirked back, adjusting his own goggles.

“Look at me, Kizaru, my dear brother. I shall take the world and give it to you. So please, watch over me and be proud.”

He then finally left and his partner was all alone. Not for long, though: a member of Feida soon came to tell her that Zanark had reached them and was being captured.

He had walked through the snowy path, following Fey’s footprints, but had thought many times of giving up and returning home to Gamma’s arms, hoping that everything would just go back to normal on its own, but he knew it wouldn’t. He looked up at the sky; it had stopped snowing and the midday sun peeped through the clouds, trying its best to melt the ice. Just what Zanark wanted to do.

“Here’s the impostor again.”

Upon his arrival, Zanark was immediately attacked by Feynark, as Meia had called him, who made him fall to ground. He then dragged him to a very small cage and locked him up, looking down on him. His eyes were as red as lava and shone brightly. If it hadn’t been for his petite physique and for his peculiar hair, he really would have looked just like the authentic Zanark Avalonic. Even his voice was beginning to sound like the original. The prisoner was scared. Shura and Gamma had often talked about him and he had always been surprised by how little their descriptions fitted him. Of course, then he didn’t know about his amnesia. But that new Fey was exactly the Zanark everybody talked about. Was he really an impostor then? No, he didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to trust Gamma’s words.

“I’m not an impostor! Gamma said-”

“Gamma says a lot of things. Most of them are lies, he cares mostly about himself. Of course, with me it’s different, but with you… You’re just a noisy baby everyone wants to shut up.”

“I don’t believe you! Gamma said he loves me!”

“Didn’t you hear me? I SAID SHUT UP!”

Feynark grabbed Zanark by the hair and started kicking him right in the gut. Each hit was almost speaking to him. No, it was screaming. “I am the all mighty, I am the strongest, I am invincible, despair before my power.” And he did. He despaired, like a child hit by someone he cared about. And what could an innocent child do? Cry, maybe? Fight back? Call for help? Zanark knew that despite everything, he was no child. What he was, he didn’t know anymore… but he was beyond desperate. And in his desperation, he screamed.  A bright light answered his calling.

 

 

“Are you sure it’s really here, Gill-Gill?”

“I told you, I am. And stop calling me like that.”

“But Gill-Gill, nothing’s here…”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Maybe Gill-Gill got it wrong. Poor Gill-Gill, his heart is broken because his little girlfriend chose a stinky monkey over him…”

“STOP IT!”

Gamma had had enough. Everyone had had enough of Gillis and Beta’s constant bickering, Sakamaki’s eye was twitching and Toudou had to keep him still before things turned badly. The girl enjoyed teasing Gillis because of his weakness and the boy, who usually relied on couple strategy and wasn’t used to being alone, was an easy target and so the bullying continued. But Gamma had had enough of everything. Beta was right, there was no sight of the Feida HQ where Gillis swore it was. Zanark was still far away… since when had he became the one ho had to rescue him? He’d had enough of the memory loss situation as well. He’d lost his patience, but no rescue team had vo lunteered to search for it. What else could he do?

“How about going home?”

Somehow reading his mind, Meia appeared in front of them. Her ex boyfriend immediately rushed by her side and held her hand.

“Meia! Meia, Meia, please rethink this! I will forgive you!”

“Since when are you at the center of the universe?” She spat and pushed him away “You should be the one rethinking your actions, Gillis. Not that I would have you back, anyway. Saru is my only love.”

“Speaking of him,” asked Toudou “where is he?”

“Running some errands, nothing you old coots ought to worry about… at least, not yet.” She licked her lips. “But don’t worry, he left me in charge of our HQ, so here I am!”

“HQ? But there’s nothing here.”

“Oh, how inconsiderate of me! Normal humans cannot see it, that’s right! Well, if you must know, right now you’re in the main hall of Feida’s official HQ. It’s very beautiful, pity you don’t get to see it!”

Gam ma had also had enough of their special powers. What he hated the most was not being able to decipher them.

“Don’t you worry your pretty face over it, dear Gamma.” Meia answered his thoughts again, which made him snort and her laugh “I thought it was clear by now. We’re different. But you don’t care, do you now? You just want your boyfriend back and go back to your perfect life and live happily just like a little prince. But I’m sorry to say that your princess is no more. Fey took his place.”

“Fey? What about Fey?”

Toudou remembered what Gillis had said.  Fey was the perfect new heir. But he couldn’t understand. What did Meia mean when she said that Fey had taken Zanark’s place?

“We call him Feynark now” She answered with a sing-song voice “He absorbed your friends memories. Saru just wanted him to be stronger, but things took a different turn… I think he’s insufferable if you ask me, but so was the old one… who cares, as long as he does his job. The other one is locked up in some cage where he is being tortured. He’ll be history soon.”

Gamma didn’t want to cry. He had had enough of his tears too, but just the thought of his boyfriend been thrown out and replaced like some old toy hurt his broken heart even more.

“ZANAAAAAAAAAAARK!”

A bright light answered his calling. Something had awoken. Something everyone recognized. Something that everyone thought impossible.

“How…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone wanted to know, Feynark is my favorite character of the whole story.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive. Hopefully.

**C** _hapter nine__

_(Monster?)_

 

 

That beam of bright light. The same beams that Zanark used to shoot out of his mouth when he was still a wanted criminal and an enemy, when he still had the SSC gene. Zanark Avalonic was the only person of which they had data that had possessed that specific power. Maybe there was someone else they didn’t know about… but when they saw Zanark running desperately towards them followed by an equally surprised Fey could only mean it had been him. But how remained a mystery, even to Meia. Everyone knew that Zanark had taken the vaccine… hadn’t he?

“Gamma, Gamma, I did it! I escaped all by myself!”

Zanark threw himself into his boyfriend’s arms, happy to be finally out of the cage. But Gamma didn’t look as happy. It took Zanark a while to understand what his facial expression meant: it was pure, sheer fear.

“How… how did you do it?”

“Oh, that? I don’t know, I think it’s magic!”

“No, that’s… you’re still like them, aren’t you?”

Gamma was shaking and pointing his finger at him. Zanark remembered that one time during Halloween when the couple watched a scary movie together, one where gigantic roaches invaded earth. The characters in the film had Gamma’s same reaction: pointing, shaking, and calling them “monster”. Gamma didn’t like that film and had immediately switched to something else, telling him that monsters were bad and scary. Did that mean Zanark was bad and scary too? Had he become a monster?

“What did you do to him?”

Chairman Toudou stepped forward, swallowing, and looked right at Meia. He was determined to be a good leader and restore calm. But the girl looked completely dumb-founded and agitated, gesturing that she had absolutely no idea of what was going on.

“We didn’t do anything! How come this big guy still has his powers?! Didn’t he take the-”

She stopped. It was useless, they obviously didn’t know the answer. There was, however, someone who did.

“So then… Feynark…”

“It’s Zanark.”

“Whatever. That impostor guy has special powers.”

“So I see.”

“And he has your body, so that means he never took the vaccine, which means you never took the vaccine.”

“I’m starting to see where you’re going with this.”

“But you always said you had taken the vaccine.”

“Oh that. Yeah, maybe I lied.”

“Listen, I may be sweet and adorable and whatever but you, sir, are pissing me off. So answer my question now before I crush your bones and use them as toothpicks: did you or did you not take the vaccine?!”

The boy looked up at the sky, sighing. He was frustrated, his prisoner had escaped after all and had forced him to reveal a secret. He started pacing in circles for a couple of minutes, toying with everyone’s tension.

“No, I never took that stuff. I needed my powers if I wanted to keep on my special exclusive training. But I figured El Dorado wouldn’t have been too happy about that, so I faked it and never told a soul. My powers make me stronger… I’m eager to have them back.”

A shiver went down Gamma’s spine. His fear became concern, then betrayal, then anger. His boyfriend had lied to him, to everyone. He was a danger to mankind. But most of all, he had a very short lifespan. He could have died at any moment. Gamma was having a relationship with a living time bomb, and he had kept it a secret from everyone, even from him, his own boyfriend. Of course Zanark had been cunning enough to never tell him, Gamma would have never accepted him if he had known… this made him feel bad. Zanark must have had really wanted Gamma as his boyfriend if he had never told anyone the truth.

“Beta, Gillis,” the chairman interrupted that moment of silence, remembering they had a mission to fulfill “we’ll take care of Meia and the rest. Gamma seems shocked, taking him away… same goes for Zanark. Be extra careful with him.”

Beta looked disgusted and wasn’t doing much to hide it. Zanark could hear her as she whispered “no way I’m touching him!”. Even to his dear Lady Beta he was nothing more than a scary monster. Maybe that’s what he really was. It’s what he felt comfortable being. He summoned the same strength, that “magic” that had freed him from the cage, so he could feel strong once more, even as strong as Feynark, if not more. At that moment, that was all he wanted: to be the strongest, stronger than fear, even if it meant being a monster.

“LET ME GO!”

He pushed Gillis away, who had grabbed his hand, and made him hit the ground. Zanark’s eyes had become two bright purplish lights, his muscles had grown and he started attacking with his powerful beam once again. He attacked out of instinct and rage, with no particular target… until he saw Beta. He heard the words she had whispered a minute earlier echo in his head. He wanted to destroy her first. A dark aura surrounded him as he prepared to launch an attack and once the girl noticed she was the target, it was too late. Despite being very fast and agile, the rush made her trip and fall. She got up quickly, but not enough: the beam had already been charged and was going to hit her. But before she could even scream out of terror, by some miracle she was pushed a few feet out of the way. A miracle by the name of Gillis.

“You… You idiot, what are you…?”

The boy with glasses lay next to her, his right arm wrapped around her waist to protect her. His left hand, though, was completely covered in blood and severely damaged from the shoulder down. When she noticed it, she let out a shrieked. Not because she founded it gross, she actually enjoyed gory and scary movies and had seen much worse, but because she realized that the person she had been constantly teasing had literally sacrificed an arm to save her life.

“Why did you do that?!”

“I… I don’t care if you hate me and humiliate me, right now we’ve got to stick together.” He was trying not to cry, visibly in great pain “Zanark has lost it. Anyone could die right now, I can’t allow that… especially not a pretty girl.”

“Don’t… Don’t be all mushy now! You could’ve died too, look at your arm! Can you even move it?”

“No, not at all.” He tried to smile to reassure her “But no need to worry, it’s just an arm after all. The left arm, even.”

“I never said I was worried, did I?”  
“You should be. I’m left-handed.”

“…you really are an idiot.”

He honestly had no idea why he had desperately wanted to save her risking his own life, or even why he was making black humor out of the situation. That was just Gillis’s way of being, chivalrous and trustworthy, something Meia used to use to her advantage so she could be spoiled like a princess. The boy didn’t want to give up on his ideals, but he was ready to give up on her and live like a normal human being. All the greatest heroes of all times where human, after all. He forced a smile and turned to the battlefield; Meia, after creating a barrier with her powers, was trying to escape, but Toudou and Sakamaki had spotted her and had began their chase. He could not see Gamma anywhere, which worried him. But what worried him the most was Zanark, the angry Zanark who was shaking with rage, who was face to face with Feynark, who grinned back at him. He had probably challenged him.

“Are you really trying to be me?” He said, with no apparent fear “Wow, you suck at it.”

Zanark grinned back at him, ready to strike. He had become his new target.

“The real me already knows how to tame the beast. You look like a rabid dog! All that’s missing is the drool!”

The real Zanark had always been a natural at taunting his opponents. That was one of the things that made him so strong. Feynark had gained his attention ad had obtained just what he wanted: a man consumed by anger who’s guard was down. Someone he could toy with. He knocked him down easily and kicked him in the face.

“What a pathetic excuse for a fake Zanark. If you really were me, you would have eaten me alive before I could even say ‘I thought you would say that’.”

“I’m not Zanark. I’m a monster.”

He wasn’t giving up. Although his mind was blank, his body was still strong and that kick, which came from Fey’s fragile leg, hadn’t yet knocked him out. He was even angrier. Feynark tried kicking him once more, but Zanark countered by loading one of his beams, the biggest and strongest yet, too strong and most importantly too close to be avoided.

“ZANARK, STOP THAT!”

A stone was thrown in their direction, startling Zanark and making him stop in his actions right away. Feynark could’ve easily attacked him like that… but he didn’t. Behind them, Gamma was shaking, weeping and clenching his fists… but most of all, he was crying. He had promised he wouldn’t cry anymore. He was crying because of them. Maybe they were both Zanark, maybe neither of them were, but both of them loved Gamma and, in a moment like that, it was really all that mattered.

“This is not you… come back, Zanark.”

The two enemies looked at Gamma, then at each other, then back at the boy in tears, who was holding out his arms, calling for a hug. The battling ceased, just like that, as they hugged him back. Something powerful was holding back their rage: the love of Zanark for Gamma.

 

 

Thanks to both her speed and teleportation, Meia had managed to flee far enough from the battle scene. She didn’t want to have to fight, especially not in such a messy battle that had already altered most of her plans; she would have rather been by her lover’s side, helping him with his mysterious project. The distance between her and Saru had grown very close, but she was running low on energy and was in urgent need of a break, if even just a short, five minute one. But even five minutes were too many.

“Stop right there.”

Despite their age, the two elderly men from El Dorado had managed to track her down catch up with her, probably also thanks to Sakamaki’s knack for technology. Resigned, but only for a moment, she stood up took a step forward.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. But this doesn’t mean you’ve won.”

“Just tell us something: what did Kizaru desire?”

“Oh? Experts, are we? Too bad it doesn’t concern you one bit. It’s something between him and Saru.”

“So it doesn’t concern you, either, does it?” Sakamaki also stepped forward, challenging her with his gaze “So why are you involved, then?”

“How dare you?!”

“You don’t care whether it concerns you or not, because you’re in love with Saru. His desires are your desires. You don’t want to leave his side because he may need you at any moment. Have you ever thought that he might not want you? That even if you mean something to him, there’s just not space for you in his little world?” He snickered as he watched her bite her lip “Do I sense some hesitation? You’re not as sure as you think you are. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have even listened to me. You would’ve already been by Saru’s side.”

“SHUT UP! What would _you_ even know, anyway?!”

“More than you could ever imagine.”

Toudou looked at his colleague, surprised and slightly in awe. Of course, by talking to Meia like that he was trying to strike a nerve, but the chairman had no idea where that kind of talk was coming from. Sakamaki Togurou was indeed a cunning man.

“Meia. Do you copy?”

Saru’s voice resounded in Meia’s head. Her face lightened up, as she soon forgot everything that Sakamaki was saying and the brief moment of doubt she had experienced.

“Saru! Loud and clear… I’ve got company.”

“I know. I also know you’re low on energy, so I’m giving you some of mine. Gather everyone and bring them here, even the other three at the secret HQ. The plan will commence shortly.”

“Roger that, my love.”

With a new strength flowing through her body, mind and soul, Meia opened her arms and unleashed a strange, white light that enveloped the two men. Before they could even realize what had happened, they were greeted by the drastic loud ‘bang’ of a devastating explosion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used to really like this chapter before the translation. Now it just seems weird...

**C** _hapter ten__

_(the world Kizaru_

_desired)_

 

A puff of colored smoke and an overpowering artificial smell greeted the newcomers as they arrived in that new mysterious place. Chairman Toudou was the first one to take action, as he took a few steps forwards and moved his gaze from left to right and vice-versa, trying to understand where he was. He soon recognized the decaying and ruined building they were suddenly standing in as what once was El Dorado’s main research facility, an external construction located far from the city, in case the experiments that were being conducted inside of it lead to disastrous consequences. Sakamaki often used to work there many years prior, but the chairman himself had only set foot in it a handful of times, especially during the last year when the famous anti-SSC vaccine was being developed in those very laboratories. But now it looked so different than it was only a few months earlier: the windows, the pillars, even the roof, most of the building was collapsing right in front of their eyes. But the most shocking thing was seeing, scattered all around the floor of the main hall, about a hundred corpses, all belonging to El Dorado’s scientific research team, scattered in small puddles of blood. It was yet another tragedy and yet again those devilish spawns were to hold responsible… and there was their boss, in front of it all, sitting on a broken pillar as if it were his throne.

“…you are the worst, do you know that?”

Sakamaki took a step towards him, gritting his teeth in anger, obtaining nothing but laughter in return.

“Why thank you, thank you, you’re far too kind. By the way, I welcome you all to my new lab. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you stumbled right in the middle of my early spring cleaning session… As you can see, I still haven’t finished taking out the trash, but I’m sure that once this place is spick-and-span it’ll be the perfect place for a new beginning.”

He laughed once more, gazing upon each of his guests, smirking as he saw their terrified expressions and felt their shock and anger. He was not happy to see Fey so close to Gamma when his initial plan was to have him as an ally. He had to make sure he would be the first one of them to be punished, but that was a matter that could wait; he had something more important to think about at that moment.

Meanwhile, Toudou had moved closer to Sakamaki, hoping that with Saru’s attention focused on Fey he wouldn’t notice him whispering to his colleague.

“Sakamaki, listen to me, there is something you must do. I’ll distract Saru as you sneak away and look for possible survivors… and maybe even a _you-know-what_.”

“Chairman, I can’t do that. Not only you’re the most important person in the world, but you are also my… friend. I cannot leave you alone.”

“I appreciate your sense of devotion, I really do and I always have. But you know this place a lot better than I do and you are well trained for emergencies like this one. You are our best option right now, I am sure of it. After all, it’s mainly thanks to you if I can now walk on my own two legs again.”

“Toudou…” the scientist looked at him right in the eyes. It was hard for him to admit, but he was touched by those words. “If that’s really what you want, I will not disappoint you. Please, stay safe and keep the others safe too. And before I forget… I managed to contact _that person_ , he should be on his way.”

“At least that. Good luck, Togurou.”

“Seriously?” Saru interrupted them as they were parting ways “You really thought I wouldn’t notice you two and your secret schemes? How foolish. Sorry to intrude, but someone here is sleeping and I really don’t want you disturbing his rest, so I’m going to have to shut you up…”

“Wait, Saru!” This time it was his girlfriend who intervened “Let me deal with this one. I have a bone to pick with this one after all. How convenient… we were in need of ANOTHER CORPSE!”

Using her power, Meia paralyzed Sakamaki’s body and lifted into the air, juggling him up and down a couple of times with the power of her mind as if he were a bouncing ball, then she started squeezing until he let out a small scream. Satisfied, she lifted him up higher and, finally, let him go while throwing him at incredibly high speed breaking what was left of the windows. He then disappeared towards the countryside covered in snow; a ‘thump’ was heard shortly afterwards.

“TOGUROU!!!”

Heikichi clenched his fists, furious. His empty red eyes were now filled with anger and sorrow after losing yet another dear person and having to carry their loss on his weak, tired shoulders. Sakamaki was gone… but crying wasn’t going to bring him back. Or Hana. Or Aya. Stopping the Second Stage Children once and for all, however, would at least help them rest in peace.

Meia was overjoyed and proud of herself. She turned to her boyfriend, awaiting her praise… but Saru was no longer laughing. In fact, he looked rather grim.

“Meia. I did not order that.”

“What? But I did it to help you! I got rid of an obstacle!”

“An obstacle?! He was an important part of the plan, have you forgotten?!”

“I thought it would make you happy…”

“Did you really think fishing for compliments at a time like this would make me happy?”

The girl immediately bit her lip and stopped talking. Had she really ruined everything? Why was Saru telling her off all of a sudden? Was Sakamaki right when he said that Saru didn’t really care for her? No, that couldn’t have been possible.

“The only thing that matters now,” the head of Feida started laughing again “IS MY BROTHER’S RETURN!!”

Toudou took a step back as soon as he realized what his enemy had just said. At first he thought – and hoped – that he was just being delirious, but somehow he could tell from Evan’s eyes that he really meant what he said: Kizaru’s return. How could it be? Wasn’t it Kizaru who said he was going to die?

“I just love the look on your faces right now!” Saryuu continued laughing “Allow me to explain: I expect you all know, somehow or another, the story of my brother Kizaru… he was the greatest. He brought chaos and destruction many years ago, he taught a lesson to those who despised him and feared him. He was better than everyone, a true superior being, far stronger, mightier and more resistant than us other Second Stage Children… isn’t it a pity that you never got  meet him? Oh, don’t you worry your pretty souls… he’s right over there, see? He’s having a nice little nap.”

Grinning at the horrified expression of his guests, the young leader of Feida pointed towards a  glass tank, very similar to a fish bowl, attached to a complex looking machine with many colorful flashing lights. Inside of it was a greenish-blueish liquid which formed air bubbles; floating inside the liquid, a small creature was curled up on itself… it looked a lot like a fetus. Toudou’s jaw fell open; it couldn’t be, could it?

“Kizaru…?”

“Bingo! You’re a winner, old man!”

“But… how?”

“Oh, it was rather easy. All you need is the right machinery, expert people and the desire to fulfill a long lost drea m, the dream of a world we can rule, the dream of a world where only the greatest can aspire to live in…” He rapidly, almost as if he teleported, came closer to his nemesis and lifted his chin with his finger “What you fail to understand, my dearest chairman, is what I have obtained in these last few months. You see, all I have ever wanted is to bring Kizaru back and that’s why I started gathering information together with the few people who never left my side, but of course El Dorado immediately started meddling with us and I had to move on to phase two, my grea test experiment yet: memory manipulation. I needed a guinea pig, and what better subject than good old Zanark Avalonic? I had to punish that traitor somehow, who would of thought I could rid him of all his memories? But what to do with those memories… well, punish another traitor of course! I really hoped that I could use Fey as a pawn thanks to his newfound fighting spirit, but it turns out little Fey was too weak for that. Pity, I was always quite fond of him… Gillis even thought I would make him into Kizaru’s new heir. What a fool. Kizaru is growing by the minute, he will soon be born again and his powers will make me stronger. WE WILL LIVE FOREVER AND I WILL BE KIZARU  ONE AND ONLY TRUE HEIR!”

He laughed even louder, the sound of his laughter echoing through the ruins. Feynark and Zanark where in complete and utter shock, realizing they had been tortured and used without even knowing… especially Fey, who was massaging his temples as if he were suffering from a terrible migraine. But to chairman Toudou, one thing still wasn’t clear.

“What do you want to do with memory manipulation?”

“Why, isn’t it obvious? I’m going to build Kizaru anew. I have managed, thanks to Meia’s help, to reconstruct his perfect body, which will soon be born in the form of a three-year-old toddler… a little young, but it will do. But he also needs a working brain and, for that, he needs his memories. See all these people?” He pointed towards the corpses “Before I killed them, I removed all the memories they had about Kizaru and transferred them to the machine connected to his tank. Old man Sakamaki had a lot useful memories, but sadly Meia seemed to had forgotten that part… what is done is done. But the person who remembers Kizaru the most… well, that would be you, chairman Toudou.  I believe your memories will be the key to waking my brother up. Plus you’ve brought along quite a few witnesses… they will be Kizaru’s first victims, isn’t this exciting?!”

Saryuu Evan had lost its mind, that was more than evident. But his intentions were deadly and serious and no one was strong enough to stop him or at least delay him while they looked for a solution. Gamma had to take care of two different versions of Zanark, both of which were not in any condition to fight, Gillis had a broken arm and Beta, even though she would never admit it, would probably not last a minute alone on the battlefield.  They wouldn’t have been able to join forces and even if Toudou had been able to call for backup Saru would have probably prevailed anyway, as he had just confirmed that he had backup as well. Everything was silent… yet someone found the courage to break it.

“Disgusting.”

Zanark stood up and started walking towards Saru. It wasn’t courage that moved him forward; it was a spontaneous, even childish will to fight for what was right. Saryuu lifted an eyebrow, a little taken aback. 

“Come again?”

“Disgusting. You’re disgusting…. You’re the real monster!”

“Am I now? And what would an insolent empty shell even know about me? You don’t even know what I’m saying. But I couldn’t care less about you right now, so don’t bother me… Actually, I have the perfect solution to shut your trap.”

He started charging a beam out of the palm of his hand, as if he were ready to attack him… but he didn’t. He instead attacked Gamma, who was standing behind him a little to the right, hitting him right in the stomach. The white haired El Dorado agent spat out blood for a few seconds, then fell straight to the ground, grunting in pain. His boyfriend immediately left Saru to rush by his side, crying, screaming, calling his name. It was the last straw. Not just for Zanark. For everyone.

“Disgusting.”

Fey lowered his hands and looked straight at Saryuu, trembling with anger.

“Disgusting.”

This time it was Beta and Gillis, in unison, who expressed their utter disgust towards Saru’s madness.

“Dis…gusting…”

Even Gamma, in his dreadful state, felt the need to join in. But one last voice was what made really made a difference.

“Disgusting. You’re even more disgusting than you’re brother. You deserve to rot in hell…”

This time, it was truly was courage. Courage filled Toudou’s heart as he pushed Saryuu Evan to the ground and moved slowly but surely towards Kizaru’s glass tank. Before Saru or Meia could do anything, the chairman took a deep breath and thought back. He thought about Hana, about Aya, his unborn granddaughter, his colleagues, Sakamaki… their strengths became his as he punched the glass and, ignoring the pain of the splinters, strangled and stepped on the fetus repeatedly,  until it was still, covered in blood and no longer breathing. Had he obtained revenge? No. Rather, justice. Whatever it was, Saru was furious.

“…big mistake. BIG, ENORMOUS, MASSIVE MISTAKE!!”

 

“I’ll admit it, I didn’t think I was going to make it this time.”

Sakamaki blinked several times, still in complete disbelief. He thought Meia had condemned him, but somehow he was saved. If he had believed in such things, he would have called it a miracle, but instead he shook his head and named it a lucky coincidence. He looked at the laboratory, a silhouette in the distance, then at the snowy countryside, then into the green eyes of his savior, who sighed.

“I arrived just in time. You did almost kill us both by falling on my car though.”

“Yeah… sorry about that. I’ll get you a new one, if we survive the apocalypse that is. Anyway, did you bring what we asked for?”

“Certainly.”

The mysterious figure, a tall man wearing a hood, handed a small briefcase to Sakamaki. The scientist smirked.

“Perfect.”

“I’ll act first, it will buy us some time. And you seem hurt, so its best if you don’t act rash, if I’m allowed to say so.”

The man was right: even if it wasn’t anything serious, Togurou was hurt and moving quickly without a plan would have been too risky for him. He shook his head once more and tended to his wounds with some bandages his savior had provided him. He turned towards him for some last words of encouragement, but the man had already disappeared in the snow. Shaking his head one last time, he muttered the words to himself.

“Good luck, Mr. Rune.”


	12. Final Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry.

**F** inal chapter_

_(Shot)_

 

Even without his MixiMax with the S-Gene, an angered Saryuu Evan was a terrifying sight to behold. Aside for that one shout, he had remained silent for a couple of minutes and was standing completely still, if not for a few twitches of his head and of his index finger, the latter one moving up and down quickly as if it were following the rapid rhythm of his heart. One could almost hear it, that angry heartbeat, the instinct that crushed all reason.

Meia had listened to it many times. She had often enjoyed lying on Saru’s chest and listening to his heart beating just for her. But now, it was a beat of anger. And if she ever wanted to listen to his heart again, maybe while cuddled to him on a throne watching their new perfect world together, she knew that his anger had to be tamed. Reasoning was her strong point, after all.

“Saru, listen to me.” She moved closer to him at a steady pace, confident but careful, then lay a hand on his shoulder “Not all is lost, you know? If I work fast, I can gather the data again and recreate another perfect fetus. It may take a while and might slightly differ from before, but I know what I’m doing, so…”

“Are you done?”

He smacked her hand away in a manner that would have discouraged anyone to continue trying to reason with him. But Meia, being used to always get what she wanted, didn’t feel like she was just ‘anyone’.

“Listen to me. I understand that you’re overwhelmed…”

“No you don’t. You understand nothing, Meia. These filthy, dull humans dared to interfere, they dared to touch Kizaru with their filthy, dull hands. What am I supposed to do with a pathetic attempt to patch things up from someone who just wants a pat on the head at the end of the day? Don’t you understand that all that matters now is punishing these humans for their foolishness? Don’t you understand that right now not even you have the right to even think about Kizaru life?!”

“I thought you--”

“I what? _Loved_ you? I don’t deny it, but love is not important to this mission right now. You’re disturbing me, get out of my way.”

“I--”

“OUT OF MY WAY!!”

As he shouted, he generated a strong shock wave that hit the girl and sent her flying, until she bumped against something, or rather _someone_ , who she knew really only too well.

“Gillis…”

She looked at her ex boyfriend with pleading eyes, hoping he had forgotten the way she had treated him and left him for Saru and would just forgive her as if nothing ever happened as he used to do back in the days. But this time, the boy just stared at her, for the first time looking sorry for her. She didn’t deserve his attention, his love or his respect. She no longer deserved him.

“Do you understand now what I’ve been trying to tell you? Take a good look at Saru. He has completely lost his mind. Was this what you wanted?”

The young boss of Feida had started attacking with his powers, with no particular target, roaring like a rabid animal, his pupils dilated and his fists clenched. His instincts had taken complete control over him… in those conditions, he wouldn’t obtained the world he thought he desired, or anything else if not pain and destruction. Was that really the man Meia loved? Was Kizaru really so special that he had the right to drive his brother to utter and complete madness? If that was the case then no, she did not understand. And if there was something she hated more than anything else, it was not understanding.

“You’re probably cursing me right now, aren’t you?” Gillis sighed, speaking with confidence “If you don’t understand, then let it out… but what purpose will it have?”

Gillis had hit a nerve with that last sentence. Angry and with wet eyes, she took out a gun that she had hidden on her at all times and aimed at Gillis’ heart… when suddenly a fast punch hit her right in the solar plexus, every human’s – and SSC’s – weak spot. She let out a faint scream, then dropped her gun and fell senseless to the floor. Beta rubbed her hands together, looking pleased with herself.

“Finally, I couldn’t stand her longer.” She spat. Then she turned to Gillis “Are you still alive?”

“Beta, you… literally just saved my life…”

“Don’t start thinking weird things now, I was in debt! And sometimes, just sometimes, I maybe have a soft heart too, you know?”

“Wow…” He let out a small giggle “You really are something…”

The girl’s cheeks turned slightly red as she muttered to herself something that sounded both like “I know that!” and “thank you”. She then focused her attention on Saru and his madness, as did everybody else.

The ground shook with every step he made, his muscles were swollen and his eyes had finally locked on to one single prey: Heikichi Toudou, his brother’s murderer. When their gazes met, Saru launched himself towards him, headbutting him hard enough to make him cough and stagger. He grabbed him by his neck, forcing him to bow, then pushed him to the ground face first.

“Plead for mercy!” He shrieked as he kicked him “Bow for Kizaru’s forgiveness!”

El Dorado’s chairman growled and was punished with more violence. The victim wanted to fight back, but the attacks never stopped and the blood he was losing from his wounded hand was making him feel dizzy. He was never physically trained for combat, unlike Sakamaki… if only he were still there. Then he remembered what he had promised him: to protect the others. As long as Saru only attacked him, he was doing his duty as chairman. Still, he hoped that his enemy would exhaust himself, give up, or was struck down by some other miracle. But he never seemed to falter.

“You’re not giving up, are you, old geezer?! I’ll have to show you what happens when one dares to challenge us!”

“Really? Please, show me as well.”

Saryuu turned to the voice behind him, slightly surprised. Feynark marched towards him, crackling his knuckles, ready to strike. Immediately, Saru’s surprise became amusement and he started laughing once more. At least, he had given Toudou some time to breathe.

“The experiment decides to challenge his own creator. Interesting… not.”

“I knew you’d say that… but this will be your last laughter. You other people, get out of here! This is a job for Zanark!”

Still convinced he was someone else, the boy with the green hair engaged battle with Saru in a somewhat clumsy fashion. Although he hardly ever managed to hit his enemy, Fey was rather agile and fast and dodged most of the attacks. The others, who had ignored Feynark’s suggestion and by no means intended to leave the battlefield without him, watched speechless as they noticed Zanark’s most distinguishing feature surface during the fight: not his strength or his powers, but his toughness. The real Avalonic watch him with great admiration, as he understood that his true self was right in front of him and was joining forces with Fey to try and save everyone. They were two warriors who battled side by side, ready to regain what had been taken away from him… and Zanark was happy to help.

“Okay, that’s enough fun and games.”

But no matter what, madness triumphed over toughness. Saru grabbed Feynark’s arm and tossed him into the air. Snapping his fingers, he immobilized him mid-air and, after a second snap, sent him flying across the hall, much like Meia had done with Sakamaki. Feynark screamed and closed his eyes, realizing he had lost as he quickly approached one of the few standing pillars of the building. The impact between him and it would have been fatal… but, to everyone’s amazement, it didn’t happen. Instead, someone had grabbed him by his shirt and hugged him, protecting him with his body as they both fell to ground and rolled over for a few meters. They were scraped, but still alive. Feynark lifted his gaze, confused, finding himself face to face with a tall man in a hood. But he didn’t care; if he was still alive, then he could still face Saru. He struggled to escape from the man’s grip, but he wouldn’t let him go.

“Who even are you?!”

Feynark pulled the man’s hood down, revealing someone he deep down knew very well, although he failed to recognize at first due to Zanark’s overpowering memories. His head started hurting again.

“Are you alright, son?”

Asurei Rune looked at his child with his usual serious expression, although somewhat melancholic. During the passed year, he and his son had been working in El Dorado’s European main building in Lisbon, Portugal, attempting to spend some time with him between his tasks. Slowly, Fey had started developing a feeling of trust towards his father and was trying, although still struggling, to forgive him for the wrong that had been done to him so many years earlier, they were starting to look like a proper family, father and son… until one day the boy disappeared. His parent immediately dropped all his tasks and spent the whole day searching far and wide for him and even failed to sleep that night, too afraid that he had lost his precious son once again due to another foolish mistake. Fortunately, the next day he was contacted by the chairman, who informed him that Fey was safe and sound. Asurei was so relieved and ready to get him back and understand why he had left Lisbon, he was willing to talk it out calmly and, had there been a problem, find a solution… until he learned that Saru was involved. Despite his job, his fear and the knowledge of the risk he was taking, he made arrangements with Toudou and Sakamaki to meet up with them as soon as he could. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. He wasn’t going to abandon his child again.

“Fey… look at me, Fey, it’s me, your father…”

“My… my father is dead…” Feynark stuttered and bit his lip “You saved me, thanks but no thanks, I don’t need your help! Let me go, I need to teach that ape a lesson!”

Saru, who was not at all happy to see Asurei return, was walking towards them, ready to strike, when someone clenched his ankle: Toudou. The chairman knew how important it was for Fey and Asurei to reunite and even if it meant becoming the target again, he had gathered enough energy to hopefully resist a few more minutes. The boy grinned, more than happy to return his focus on ‘the murderer’. Asurei thanked him with a gesture of his head, then tightened his grasp on Fey.

“Listen to me. You’ve done a good job, but that’s enough. Now, Fey, you have to return to your true self.”

“THIS _IS_ MY TRUE SELF! I AM NOT FEY, I AM ZANARK!!”

“Listen to me.” The man repeated, hugging him tightly and stroking his back “I made many, many mistakes in the past and I can never forgive myself for what I’ve done. You have no idea how happy I was when you decided to give me a chance and follow me to Portugal… I was able to know you better and I learned to love you, even though I have loved you from the moment I learned about your existence… I’m so happy that we are slowly making up for the time we didn’t spend together, even if it may take all eternity before things return to normal, we’re making so much progress and I’m proud of both of us… what about you, Fey?”

“I… I…” He started massaging his temples again. He felt rather nauseous “I don’t… I’m not…”

“I bet Kinako… no, your mother, I bet she’s really proud of you too. I bet she is watching over us and smiling like she always did…” He smiled and kissed his cheek “I… I love you, son. I really do. Please… I don’t… I don’t want to lose you too…”

Asurei’s eyes were full of tears. He hadn’t cried since his wife’s death and he finally felt free. But Saru, who was tired of Toudou not fighting back, had pushed him away and was walking towards them, twitching like before. Mr. Rune was ready for him: he wasn’t going to let him harm his son. He wiped his tears and stood up, but something grabbed his wrist. It was Fey, his dear son Fey, who was also in tears.

“D-Dad…”

As he said that one word, he felt his head explode and his stomach break. The nausea he felt was uncontrollable, there was something he had to let out. Saru immediately stopped walking.

“No… not this…”

A ball of light came out of Fey’s body and rolled over away from them. Pale and sweating, the green haired boy fell unconscious into his father’s arms, completely exhausted. The sphere kept rolling and rolling, until it met Gamma’s hand, who was still laying on the ground after Saryuu’s attack, glowing as if it were calling him. The boy picked it up and observed it for a few seconds. He jumped once he understood what it was.

“Are these… Zanark’s memories?”

Before he could do anything else, Saru ran towards him and grabbed his arm, making him drop the sphere. He then started repeatedly hitting him in the face, while shouting.

“THIS DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING! YOU HAVEN’T WON, YOU NEVER WILL!”

But his attack didn’t last long; Zanark, the real Zanark, grabbed Evan by the hair and punched him in the mouth. He then let out one of his energy beams, knocking him away.

“Don’t you ever touch Gamma again.”

“Zanark…”

Gamma staggered towards the ball of light and managed to grab it despite his hands shaking. He lifted it as far as Zanark chest, hoping it would know what to do after it had found its rightful owner. He smiled and whispered:

“I love you so much…”

As if it had understood, the small sphere started glowing even more and, finally, it let itself be absorbed into Zanark’s body. A lifetime of memories, both happy and sad, filled his mind and, softly and slowly, lulled him to sleep. The emptiness had been conquered.

“Zanark… oh, Zanark…” His boyfriend held his hand “It’s all… over now…”

But the sound of some heavy steps denied what had just been said. Hurt but still standing, Saru was even more furious than before. To knock him down, he who seemed so far from human, what else could be done?

“I… I’ve had enough of you lowly insects… In the name of the great Kizaru, I will… crush you all and laugh as I watch you burn… There’s no escape now, nothing you can do… MY WORLD IS ABOUT TO--”

Silence. A muffled scream. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, took a few steps in a circle, then fell flat to the ground.

“What… what just happened?”

Toudou motioned everyone to stay back, in case Saru got up again. Maybe Zanark had hit him harder than he thought and he had fainted. But then, why was there a small syringe stuck in his neck? Asurei sighed and smiled reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, chairman, he should be down for a while. ” He looked upwards “It took you some time, Mr. Sakamaki.”

Toudou jumped as soon as he heard that name. As incredible as it sounded, his colleague and friend was walking towards him, holding a tranquilizer gun. He chuckled and helped Toudou stand up.

“Sorry I’m late, it took me a while to find a route that would allow me to attack without Saru noticing me.” He looked at the wounded, making sure they were all accounted for, then concentrated on Toudou “How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing good.” He nodded, a little insecure “More or less. May I… know what’s going on?”

“Of course. When Meia attacked me, I fortunately landed on Mr. Rune’s car and although I almost caused an accident we both managed to survive. So, as soon as I recovered, I came back here with the briefcase we asked him to bring us from Europe.”

“You mean… that syringe…?”

“Yes, it’s a shot of the vaccine against the SSC condition, plus a dose of tranquilizer that will knock him cold for quite some time. The vaccine has immediate effect, so when Saru will wake up he won’t be as dangerous… once we’ve tendered to the wounded, we will proceed with giving the shot to Meia and their other allies. But first, we all need treatment. Reinforcements should be here any minute, they will help us with the rest.”

Heikichi looked at his friend, smiling as he realized that he was the miracle he needed. He limped towards the exit and joined everyone else, thinking about the incredible experience they had just lived. The important thing was that it had finally ended, a couple of weeks later everyone would have felt a lot better and forgotten everything. No… no one could ever forget. Memories were what filled the emptiness in everyone’s hearts.

 

 

Something touched him. He struggled to open his eyes, he felt so weak and overwhelmed, but somehow summoned the strength to lift his pupils. Colors all seemed to blend together and he could barely distinguish shadows, but there was one silhouette he would always recognize.

“M-Meia…”

He felt so dazed that every word he spoke sounded more like a whisper. He was too tired for anymore madness, or to think about Kizaru. He felt lost, but at least he wasn’t alone and that made him feel better.

“El Dorado won, Saru.” She answered, emotionless “Their reinforcements are coming for us. Also, they gave you the shot.”

“They did…? So… I’m not like you anymore?”

“No. But you haven’t been for a long time now.”

She turned her back on him and put her hands in her pocket, as the cold wind had started blowing again. But seeing her move away from him, Saru immediately wanted to act, to think up new plans again, but not alone.

“Come… come here, Meia… maybe we can still… create a world… just for the two of us… or just… get our revenge on El Dorado…”

“You said so yourself.”

Her right hand clutched onto something. She bit her lip, made it bleed, licked away the blood, everything while remaining expressionless. The wind blew stronger and snow started to fall.

“You said it, Saru. You said it’s too late… And that I…” She took out her pistol and put her finger to the trigger as she moved away from him “…can never understand.”

A shot, one single shot, and Saru’s world turned to darkness forever. Everything went silent, even the winter wind. Even the steps that slowly disappeared into the evening became distant and inaudible.

_If there was something Meia hated more than anything else, it was not understanding._


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who stuck around! It means the world to me.  
> I'll be correcting typos in the next few days, I have found a few sadly-

**E** pilogue_

_(Data restored)_

 

 

Gamma woke up with a startle, feeling watched. He had hardly slept during the last few weeks, as he hadn’t been home much other than to get some food and the bare necessities to spend as much time possible in El Dorado’s infirmary waiting for Zanark to wake up. Everyone who had been a part of the battle against Saru had spent a lot of time there while their wounds were being healed. The white haired boy had taken no more than three days to recover, despite still having a couple of scratches and bruises that hurt from time to time, but he didn’t want to leave before Zanark woke up from what seemed to be a coma. The doctors said he was fine and his body was only resting and so Gamma was more than free to go, but he didn’t dare leave his boyfriend alone after all that had happened. He spent his days taking small naps or chatting with Beta and Gillis, who were also often there. But he was seriously sleep deprived and one could tell that he needed a rest. He had planned to go home for the day and maybe return at night, maybe he could manage to close his eyes for more than two hours at a time… but it was right then that Zanark finally opened his.

“Z-Zanark…?”

He got up from his chair and walked to the bed, bending down slowly towards his loved one. The other boy stared back at him, looking rather confused.

“…who are you?”

Gamma felt everything fall a part. Was it really possible that Zanark’s memory wasn’t back to normal after all? Had it all been useless? He felt like running away in desperation… but then he heard laughter.

“You fell for that one, didn’t you?”

There he was. The good old Zanark Avalonic he knew and loved and had missed so much despite wanting to insult him half of the time, especially when he played such terrible pranks on him. The same Zanark Avalonic he would forgive with bitter laughter.

“You’re an idiot…”

They hugged for a couple of minutes. They both needed a true hug after three months of clumsy cuddles. Avalonic didn’t complain, he knew his partner had been through too much. He noticed he was, once again, on the verge of tears; he had seen him cry far too many times, it needed to stop.

“Tell me something, cupcake.” He moved his arms, inviting him to sit on the bed next to him “I know what happened: Saru took my memory, we fought against him, yada yada yada. What did I miss? How long was I asleep for?”

“Two weeks exactly. El Dorado’s reinforcements arrived and we were immediately treated and--”

“You gave me the shot, didn’t you?”

“Of course we did. And don’t give me that look, I’m still angry at you for keeping it a secret you know! Anyhow… The shot was also given to the remaining SSCs… well, almost all of them.”

“Almost?”

“No one can find Meia anywhere. She completely disappeared after she… presumably killed Saru.”

“What?”

“Saru’s dead body was found when El Dorado’s agents returned to the battle scene. He had a gun wound and Meia’s gun was laying next to him, so…”

“That’s twisted… but also predictable. Enough about Saru. What about you people?”

“Chairman Toudou and Mr. Sakamaki where the first ones to leave the infirmary. Due to their high status they received complicated but efficient cures and were able to recover immediately. The chairman still has trouble moving his right hand, but Mr. Sakamaki is helping him more than ever and is always by his side. The one who took the most damage was Gillis. His arm is in a cast.”

“Whoops…”

“He doesn’t blame you… I think he’s actually thankful, his wound has made him quite the hit with the ladies. But he’s taken an interest to one particular lady… get this! Him and Beta have started dating, isn’t that the juiciest bit of gossip you’ve ever heard?!”

“At least she’ll leave us alone if she’s busy dating…” Zanark looked at his hair, hoping it wasn’t still pink from that time Beta had decided to dye it. Then, a thought struck his mind “How’s… Fey?”

He looked worried as he asked the question. Gamma wasn’t used to seeing him so lost in thought; he must have really cared about Fey’s situation. The green haired boy had told him that they had somehow bonded when he was still Feynark.

“He’s doing great, he left for Lisbon just this morning. He woke up two days ago, he was in the bed next to yours. He wanted me to tell you he was sorry he couldn’t say goodbye to you himself and for… well, the whole identity theft.”

“It wasn’t his fault. He did a great job filling in for me while I was absent!” He chuckled loudly “I also… owe him an apology. I caused him a few issues.”

Gamma didn’t think he would ever hear Zanark pronounce the word “apology” and wondered if he ever would again. He was even a little jealous that such an honor was dedicated to Fey Rune and not to him. But he knew his boyfriend better than anyone else.

“I have a surprise for you. Your motorcycle was found and repaired and is now waiting for you outside. If you promise to not go wild, I’ll let you have a ride on it without telling the nurses. Maybe even two.”

“Now we’re talking, cupcake.”

He got out of bed and walked towards the exit, as if nothing had ever happened. Seeing Zanark’s eyes shine again made Gamma feel so relieved. Everything was finally back to normal. He then covered his nose with his hand; maybe a little _too_ normal.

“First take a shower, you stink like a pig.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I need to say it again: thank you!!


End file.
